FF United Part One: Two Crossing Times
by spikestrife
Summary: Returning to Garden, Squall and his friends get transported to a world they don't know anything about. Squall gains a new rival and must help his friends to stop a new evil that is threatening the planet. Cloti, Squinoa.
1. Disaster Storm

Two Crossing Times

A/N: This is my first ever fanfic, so forgive me if it is a bit crap. This fic is a FF7/FF8 crossover. Please R & R. Review or e-mail me at spikestrife@hotmail.com. Flames are most definitely welcome. I want to see where I've gone wrong. Please e-mail the flames.

Disclaimer: I do not own ff7 or 8 blah, blah, blah!!!

Chapter 1 – Disaster Storm

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"Come on Squall!" Rinoa shouted. "You can do this."

"Woo hoo, go Squall!" Selphie practically screamed.

Squall's face was screwed up in concentration. He could feel his fingers starting to hurt. His opponent was wearing down. He could finish this soon.

"Go, Zell, go!!" Quistis yelled excitedly.

Zell's fingers were hurting too. He was being badly beaten by Squall. He was very good at this. He could see his life go down and he started to fight back even harder. But he pressed the wrong button and Squall took the chance to win. Zell watched as his life faded.

"No way!!" He shouted miserably as his life disappeared

"YES!!" Squall yelled happily. Rinoa grabbed him and kissed him on the cheek.

Zell dropped his head in shame. Beaten by a complete amateur.

"Boy, Zell," said Irvine, "for a martial-arts expert, you sure do suck at fighting games."

They were in Deling City's new arcade. They had gotten some time off together from Garden. Zell had brought them here to make a bet. If he was beaten at any game he would buy everyone a meal from the chip shop.

"Hope you brought your wallet Zell," Selphie said stifling back a fit of giggles. The look on Zell's face was priceless. 

"That's not fair!" He moaned. "Best 2 out of 3."

"Sorry, Zell." Squall said, still holding Rinoa. "But I promised Irvine that I'd play a two player on Time Crisis 2 with him."

Zell cursed silently. "Oh man, I hate getting beat."

Everyone, except Zell, burst out laughing.

Squall stopped laughing when his mobile went off. He accepted the call and put the phone to his ear.

"Hello?" He said. The others looked at him wanting to know who it was. "Yes. What, now? But sir we're on vacation!" Everyone knew instantly that it was Headmaster Cid. Since Squall had become Commander of Garden, he was always the first to know about any missions that came up. This had to be very important if Cid would phone Squall while he was on holiday. "Alright, I'll tell the others." He put the phone away and looked at everyone.

"There's a new mission up. Cid wants us back at Garden now." He sounded a bit annoyed.

"Does he want all of us back?" Quistis asked.

"Yes," Squall answered, "he chose us specifically for this mission. We've to get back to Garden as soon as possible."

"Good thing we brought the Ragnarok, huh?" said Selphie. With that they left the arcade and headed back to their hotel.

* * * * *

"Man, this so isn't fair!" Rinoa moaned, while packing her things. "I mean we're supposed to be on vacation." Rinoa's dog, Angelo, was also with them. She lay on the floor watching Squall and Rinoa pack.

"It pisses me off too, Rinoa." Squall said packing away his things too. They both shared a room. Squall and Rinoa had been going out for over a year. They had started dating after they had defeated Sorceress Ultimecia. The others, Selphie in particular, still laughed at the idea of Squall having a girlfriend.

"It's hard enough to get a vacation, especially for you Squall. You're the Commander of Garden, you get less vacations than the Headmaster."

Squall chuckled at that statement. She was right though. He had been promoted when he had come back from time compression. Commander was a very important job and a very tiring one too. Sometimes, Squall would get so stressed out from his work that, he would sneak out of Garden, go to the nearest town or city and find something else to do.

"I know. This mission better be important, or I might just resign!"

Rinoa was actually quite shocked to hear that. He may have only been 18, but Squall was very mature about his work. "You don't mean that, Squall."

"Don't I?" he answered simply. He zipped up his bag, which had all his clothes and accessories inside, and put it on the floor. He then walked over to Rinoa and hugged her from behind. "If I resign, we get more time together, don't we?"

He kissed her neck and she moaned in pleasure. She turned round to face him.

"I guess you're right." She said before laying her lips on his. Squall pulled her closer to him and kissed her passionately. Rinoa ran her finders through his messy brown hair while Squall's hands were round her waist. They kissed for several minutes until they were interrupted, by someone opening the door.

It was Selphie. Angelo looked up and wagged her tail.

"Oops, sorry! Am I interrupting something?" she whispered, standing at the door, barely managing not to giggle.

Squall and Rinoa both shook their head's, still holding onto one another.

"Well. . .ahem. . .we're. . .uh. . .leaving in ten minutes. Okay! Bye!" She ran out the room.

Squall and Rinoa looked at each other and laughed. The kissed each other again and picked up their bags. They walked out of the door and headed to the Ragnarok, hand in hand, with Angelo close behind them.

* * * * *

The Ragnarok was a large red airship shaped like a dragon. It was originally a spaceship that was missing. Luckily, while floating around in space, Squall and Rinoa found the Ragnarok, but it was filled with Propagators. Squall had managed to bring the ship to Earth and Selphie had taken over the driving. After time compression, Esthar had let Garden keep the Ragnarok as a reward.

As they went on board, everyone else was already on; they put their bags in a watertight container. They used it to keep their bags and equipment from getting wet, if the ship ever crashed into the ocean. Squall, Irvine and Selphie went up to the main deck, while Zell, Quistis, Rinoa and Angelo went to the living quarters to get some rest.

"Yo, Squall!" said Irvine while the headed up the elevator, "Where about is Garden anyway?"

"They're near Edea's house," Squall replied "We can head past Centra to get there."

"There's supposed to be a storm tonight," Selphie told them, "I hope we can get there safely."

"So do I, Selphie," Squall said sadly, "So do I."

* * * * *

They were crossing the Centra Ocean about an hour later. The rainstorm had turned into a thunderstorm, the storm winds making the Ragnarok sway slightly. Everyone, except for Selphie who was driving, had fallen asleep. Selphie had told them that it would take at least another hour to get to Garden, so everyone had decided to take a nap.

In his room, Squall couldn't get to sleep. The thunder from the storm outside was keeping him awake. Rinoa though, who was curled up next to him, her head on his chest, was sleeping peacefully, as was Angelo, who was lying on the floor. Squall smiled as he looked down at her. He couldn't believe how lucky he was. He had Rinoa, not Seifer. His rival had always teased him for falling for her; he was constantly calling him 'puberty boy.'

Squall looked at the ceiling, and remembered to when he and Rinoa had first met. It had been at the SeeD-graduating ball, where she had practically dragged him onto the dance floor. He had refused but she forced him in the end. He then met Rinoa again in Timber. Her resistance group, 'The Forest Owls,' had hired SeeD to her them win back Timbers independence. Rinoa and Squall always argued with each other. Rinoa wanted Squall to open up to everyone, while he wanted her to shut up. At the time, he never would have imagined that she would be his first love.

Squall had always kept himself to himself, afraid that if he opened up, his friends would abandon him. He had lost that feeling of comfort before. That had been when Sis had left the orphanage. He had never truly known his feeling for Rinoa, until she had fallen into a coma. When she had been possessed in space, Squall had jumped into space to rescue her. Ever since then, he had known one thing. That he loved Rinoa.

Squall looked back down at Rinoa and kissed her forehead. She slowly opened her eyes and looked up at him. Her lips formed a smile as she held him tighter. She gave him a small peck on the cheek and then moved to his mouth. Their lips met and Squall slowly rolled her over so he was on top of her. He licked her lips as she opened her mouth to let his tongue in. They lay there, kissing passionately, as the storm outside got louder.

* * * * *

Selphie sat in the pilot seat, while Irvine sat in the seat next to her. He was sleeping, while she tried to stay awake. She had to pilot the Ragnarok.

Selphie tried her best to keep the ship straight, but the wind was making it hard for her to control it. She was starting to see the occasional lightning strike, but each one was dangerously close to the ship. She eventually started considering landing, but if the mission Cid had was important, they couldn't afford to be late. She felt the wind get stronger, as she found it harder to control the ship.

Then it happened.

She heard an explosion from the left side of the ship as it was struck by lightning. The explosion woke Irvine up. The electricity short-circuited the main computer, causing the power to go offline. The Ragnarok plummeted down towards the ocean, Selphie unable to prevent it.

"Selphie, what happened?" asked Irvine, panicking.

"We were struck by lightning. The main computers offline, I can't control the ship!!"

The Ragnarok hit the water hard, headfirst. The pressure from the crash smashed the window in the main deck, allowing water to come spilling through. The water quickly filled up the room, with Irvine and Selphie inside. They quickly swam out the window that had been smashed, and swam up to the surface.

*****

Squall and Rinoa were flung of their bed with the impact.

"What the hell was THAT!?" Squall nearly shouted.

"I don't know!" Rinoa whispered as Angelo started barking. Something was wrong. She thought that they might have landed, but Selphie never landed that hard.

"C'mon!" Squall said going out the door. Rinoa and Angelo followed him but stopped when they saw him looking at the floor.

"What? What is it, Squall?" She looked at him, and for the first time, saw fear in his eyes. She looked at the wall that Squall was staring at, and gasped.

Water was coming in from a hole that had been made. Some of the wall had been singed. They must've been struck by lightning.

"SHIT!!!" Squall shouted, "We've got to find the others." And with that he ran down the hall to warn them. Rinoa ran after him, seeing a few more holes with water pouring into them.

Squall reached Zell's door.

"ZELL? ZELL? Open up!"

Zell yawned while he opened the door.

"What?" he asked groggily.

"The Ragnarok's flooding! We've got to get out of here!"

"What! How!"

"I don't know, but I'm going to find Selphie and Irvine. Hurry! You and Rinoa get Quistis. See if you can get out of here."

"Right!"

Zell and Rinoa hurried to Quistis' room while Squall headed for the main deck. He reached the elevator and saw water pouring down the wall. It was coming from the deck!

"Oh Hyne! Dammit!"

He started to panic. They didn't have much time. He could feel the Ragnarok tilting slightly as it filled with water. It was now up to his ankles. They couldn't go up, so they'd have to go down. He decided to open the cockpit. This would bring more water in but it was their only chance at escaping. Rinoa, Zell, Quistis and Angelo came round the corner as Squall opened it. The water spilled through even faster than he thought.

"Squall! What are you doing?" shouted Quistis as she and the others walked up to him. The water was now up to their waists.

"It's the only way out. You have to swim through before this room fills up totally. Go!"

She was the first to swim through, followed by Zell, then Angelo. Rinoa didn't want to leave.

"Squall, I'm not going without you!" she grabbed onto him as the water reached her neck.

"I'll be right behind you, I promise. Now go!"

She hesitantly ducked under the water and swam out of the Ragnarok. Squall was now struggling to stay above the water, so he ducked under it and swam out. The Ragnarok had plunged deeper from when his friends had escaped so he had the hardest job of getting to the surface. He kicked his legs as hard as he could; he was slowly starting to suffocate. He broke to the surface, feeling the cold air and water sting his eyes and face.

Through the storm he saw land nearby. He swam over there, which was difficult, thanks to the force of the waves. He reached the shore, very wet and very tired. He got up and walked up to the edge of the shore, where he collapsed from exhaustion.


	2. Finding Our Friends

A/N: Thanks for the reviews everyone. They mean a lot. Anyway, this chapter is just about Squall and his friends trying to find each other after getting separated. Now, in my fic, the spells will be used for different things, instead of just attacking monsters and so on.  As will a few other things as well, but I won't spoil it.  Enough of my useless chatter, here's chapter two.

Summary: Squall and his friends were called back to Balamb Garden during their holiday. While travelling back on the Ragnarok, they are caught in a thunder storm. The ship is struck by lightning and sinks into the ocean.  They all managed to escape but don't know that. Now they are trying to find each other.

Chapter 2 – Finding Our Friends

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"Squall?  Wake up!"

This was what Squall heard as someone shook him.  He groggily opened his eyes to see Rinoa kneeling beside him.  He started to get up, his arms barely holding him.  He felt Rinoa's arms go round his waist to help him stand.  His legs felt weak and he was freezing.  When he was finally up, he felt like he was going to collapse again.

"Squall?  Are you ok?" Rinoa asked.

"I'm…alright." He said tiredly.  He looked around him.  He knew they had landed somewhere near the Centra region, but the landscape around him surprised them.

The Centra island was usually rocky and had lots of quicksand.  As he looked around him, he saw nothing but plains of grass and some forests in the distance.

"Where are we?" he asked.

"I don't know," Rinoa answered, "There doesn't seem to be any towns nearby and I couldn't find any of the others."

"They might be in danger, I don't recognise this place.  We had better find them before someone else does."

So they set off looking for their friends, both of them praying that they would find them soon.

* * * * *

Selphie woke up, feeling the sun's heat beat down on her furiously.  She sat up and shivered.  Even though the sun was out, she was freezing.  Her clothes were wet but were drying up in some places.  She looked around and saw Irvine lying nearby.  She crawled over to him and shook him awake.

"Irvy, Irvy, please wake up!"

He slowly opened his eyes and looked at Selphie.  He then remembered what happened and sat up.

"You alright, Selphie?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Where are the others? Do you think…" he trailed off, not wanting to finish his sentence.

Tears suddenly welded up in Selphie eyes.  Did the others get out? What if they didn't?  That would mean…

"Oh, no." she said sadly.  She stood up and looked out at the sea.  There was no sign of the Ragnarok.  It had obviously sunk.

The tears Selphie had been holding in, now streamed down her face.  Her friends were gone.  And she didn't know where she was.  Irvine walked up to her and hugged her.  She held on to him and sobbed into his chest.  Irvine desperately tried to think of something that would comfort her.

"Listen, I'm sure they're alive.  Squall would have gotten them out.  I'm positive."

"You think?" Selphie asked, wiping away her tears.

"Definitely!  Squall wouldn't let anything happen to us.  He cares about us to much."

"I guess you're right."

Irvine suddenly got an idea. "Selph, remember what Squall told us to do if we got separated during missions?"

"Yeah, he said to send up a flare.  But we haven't got one."

"Oh yeah?" Irvine said with a smirk.

He let go of Selphie and concentrated.  He felt what magic he had inside of him and found what he was looking for.  A Flare spell.

He fired the spell into the air and it exploded, like it did when he used it against enemies.

He waited for about a minute until he sent up another one.  He was positive that the others would see it.

What he didn't know was that someone else saw it as well.

* * * * *

Quistis, Zell and Angelo gaped up at the sky.  They knew that was one of their friends.  Squall had told them to send up flares when they had gotten separated.  Angelo barked loudly and ran forward.  She them turned round and barked at Quistis and Zell, as if telling them to hurry.

"What do you think Zell?" asked Quistis, "You think it's one of the others."

"Yeah, I think its Irvine.  Squall gave him all the Flare spells we had drawn."  With that he started running after Angelo, Quistis right behind him.

* * * * *

Squall stood on a bit of the land where it rose higher than the area around it.  He was hoping that he would see any sign of someone.  He didn't.  But what both he and Rinoa saw, was a flare spell, being shot into the sky.

"Squall! Look!" Rinoa yelled at the top of her voice.  She sounded excited.  She was jumped up and down, clapping her hands at the same time.

"I know.  It must be Irvine.  He's the only one with Flare spells."  He saw Rinoa starting to run towards where it was being fired from, and was about to follow, when something caught his eye.

He looked to a large hill, north from the beach.  He saw a lone figure standing on the cliff, having come out of the forest behind them.  He couldn't make out who it was, the hill being about a mile or two away, but they were looking in the same direction as the Flare spell.  Squall started to get worried.  What if the person would go and attack his friends.  He was about to head up there instead, to attack them himself, but he saw them go back into the forest and out of sight.  Squall stood still for a moment, before Rinoa's yelling brought him back to his senses.

"Squall, c'mon!" she yelled.

"Yeah, coming." He took one last look north, past the hill.  He saw, what looked faintly like buildings, a couple of miles away.  He looked back at Rinoa, then back at the town before sprinting as fast as he could to his friends.

* * * * *

"It's not working Irvine." Selphie said sadly.

"Of course it is.  It has to!"

"Maybe it's not working because…" she dropped her head and started crying quietly.

"Selphie…" Irvine stopped shooting up the spells and went over to her.  He hugged her and kissed her on the forehead.  She stopped crying and looked up at him.  The tears had stained her face. "We can't think like that.  We have to believe that we're all alive. Isn't that how we got through time compression?"

Selphie nodded her head and put her arms around Irvine.

"Thanks Irvine."

"That's okay. We'll find them."

She looked up at him and nodded again.  Just then they heard a very familiar voice.

"Yo, guys!"  It was Zell.  They also heard a bark that would be from none other than Angelo.

Selphie ran up to Zell and practically tackled him.  She hugged him tightly, making Irvine slightly jealous.

"I thought we would never find you guys!" she said, crying in happiness.

"We were worried about you too!" Quistis said coming up to Selphie, earning her a hug as well.

"I'm glad you're all safe," Selphie said after letting Quistis go.  She then looked around and started to look worried again, "Where's Squall and Rinoa?"

Zell and Quistis looked at the ground.

"We were looking for them before we saw the flare.  We couldn't find them." Quistis said, still looking at the ground.

"We're sure Rinoa got out, but Squall stayed behind.  We don't know if he got out in time."

"Then where's Rinoa?" Irvine asked.

As if on cue, they heard someone shout, "I'm right here!"

They all looked up with wide eyes as the saw Rinoa running towards them.  She stopped and looked at them.

"Hi guys!"

"Rinoa!" they all said in unison

She stood there smiling while someone came up behind her.  It was Squall.

"Squall!" they said together, again.

Selphie, who was almost hysterical from being so happy, ran up and cuddled them both. Squall was also relieved.  He was afraid that the mysterious figure on the hill had attacked them.  He couldn't help but wonder who that was.

"Squall? Are you alright?" asked Rinoa, seeing the worried looked on his face.  Everyone else was watching him as well.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm…I'm fine."

Everyone else seemed satisfied, but Rinoa knew Squall was shaken up about something.  What that was, she didn't know.

Quistis decided to change the subject.

"Well?  What do we do now?  All our clothes and food went down with the ship."

"Not exactly." Squall said, surprising everyone, "Our clothes were in the watertight container.  If we can just get it up here, we can easily change."

"Oh and how do you suppose we do that? You could always dive down there and see if you can survive. Though I doubt it." Quistis said sarcastically.

Squall just smiled and walked to the shore.  He looked out at the ocean and sat down on the sand.  He pulled his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them, he was slightly cold.  He then shut his eyes and concentrated.

"What's he doing?" Zell asked.

"You'll see." Rinoa said. Everyone looked at her, then at each other, and then back to Squall.

Squall slowly let his eyes open and smiled again.  The rest of his friends, except Rinoa, gasped in shock, as Squall's GF, Leviathan, came to the surface.  Leviathan looked at Squall as he nodded.  The GF then dived underwater and swam away.

"What the HELL!?" Zell shouted.

"Squall, how did you do that?" Selphie asked him as he stood up.

"Rinoa taught me." He answered simply.

Everyone looked at her, and she nodded.

"I could teach you guys if you want?" Rinoa said happily. She instantly knew the answer.

"YEAH!!!"

Rinoa smiled at Squall. He smiled back and turned round.  He hoped that Leviathan was okay.

He suddenly saw the water starting to ripple, as did the others. A moment later, Leviathan's head popped out of the water. In its mouth was the watertight carrier.

Squall grinned and walked into the shallow water where Leviathan had swum to.  He took the carrier out of its mouth and dragged it to the shore.

"Thanks, Leviathan."

The GF made a sound as if saying you're welcome before disappearing back into Squall's mind.  He dragged the carrier back onto the beach and looked at his friends, who, except Rinoa, all gaped at him.

"What?" he asked them with a confused look.

Rinoa grinned and walked up to Squall.  She opened the carrier and took out the bags and weapons.  They both looked at their friends who stood staring.

"Well? Do you want your bags or what?" Squall said. The others then smiled and collected their bags and weapons.

* * * * *

After getting changed, loading their weapons and GF's, they set off to the town Squall had seen earlier.

"Squall?" Irvine started asking a short while later, "Are you sure it was a town you saw?  I mean, we're supposed to be in the Centra Area right.  There are no towns anywhere near there."

"Irvine, does this look like the Centra Area to you?" Squall asked back.

Irvine gave in. This obviously wasn't anywhere near Centra. There was too much grass and too many forests about.

"Then where are we?" Zell asked.  Squall stopped and almost glared at Zell.

"If I knew where we were, I'd tell you wouldn't I?" he said seriously.

"Yeah, I guess."

"Listen, if we go to the town ahead we might be able to find out some information."

Squall would have stopped before that, if he knew he and his friends were being watched.  He would also have noticed that they were directly beneath the cliff, where Squall had seen the mysterious figure earlier.

Squall saw Rinoa look up at the top of the cliff and gasp.  He was about to ask what was wrong when he heard a voice from where she was looking.

"Well, well…who do we have here?"

A/N: Well, there's chapter 2. Hope you liked it. I made the GF's a bit different. They are now able to take physical form and do more than just attack enemies. Flame me about it if you want, I don't mind. And who is this mysterious person? Is he friend or foe? You'll find out in the next chapter.


	3. Friend Of Foe?

Summary: Last chapter was simple. Everyone was trying to find each other and there were more than a few surprises in store for everyone.  Someone has been watching them but they don't know who it is? Are they friend or foe? They'll find out soon enough.

Chapter 3 – Friend or Foe?

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Squall spun around in shock. He looked up and standing there, was the person he had seen earlier. Squall drew his gunblade out of its sheath, as the man front flipped off the cliff. It was a good 20 foot drop but he landed softly on his knee. He slowly stood up and looked at Squall.  His eyes narrowed as they landed on Squall's gunblade.

The first thing that surprised him was the man's height. He was smaller than Squall, being barely over five and a half feet tall. The next thing that surprised Squall was his hair. It was golden-blonde and was very spiky, slightly more on the left side. He had bright aqua-marine eyes which glowed faintly. Just by looking into his eyes, Squall knew this man was dangerous. He wore a navy sleeveless top and navy, slightly baggy pants. To Squall, he looked like a mercenary. And there was one thing about him that made Squall slightly nervous. It was the large sword on the man's back. How it stayed there, he had no idea. There wasn't a sheath to carry it in. The sword looked over four feet long, and at least a foot wide. It shone bright white and had a long handle, with metal coming out to the side and curving slightly. He knew this was because the sword was to be handled with two hands, it looked quite heavy. And for some reason, it looked very familiar.

Squall's eyes widened slightly as the man took the sword off his back and brought it in front of him. The edge of the blade fell to the floor, cutting a slit in the ground. Squall's eyes widened even more when the man brought his sword up, balancing it in his right hand, his left in front of his chest protectively. He brought his right foot back and bent his knees slightly, in a fighting position.

Squall suddenly realised that this guy wanted a fight. He was going to refuse, but he didn't want his friends to get hurt. Squall brought his gunblade in front of him and also got into his fighting stance.

Rinoa, who, along with everyone else, had been silent during this, stepped forward and looked back and forth from the two swordsmen.

She hesitated, and then quietly said, "Be careful Squall. This guy's very powerful." Angelo stepped up next to her and growled at the sword wielder, who looked at her then returned his focus to Squall.

Squall looked at her and nodded. He then turned back to his opponent. They each stood still, both waiting for the other to make the first move. They advanced together, both blades coming round in an arch and clashing together with a loud ring. Sparks flew as they both thrust at each other, again and again, neither one gaining an advantage.

Squall realised that if they continued like this, they would both tire out and the fight would end in a stalemate. He began to move faster and putting more strength into his attacks. He slowly began to gain the advantage. His foe would sometimes miss the chance to defend, but would dodge Squall's gunblade none the less. He was very fast. Even with his GF junctions, Squall couldn't hit him.

Squall attacked his foe, who didn't defend. Instead he jumped back out of Squall's range, but not before earning a small cut on his arm. Squall was about to rush forward and attack again, when he realised his foe didn't advance. Squall thought he had given up, but quickly found out he was mistaken. The mercenary decided that using only one hand, he would be beaten. So he grabbed onto the handle with both hands and balanced the sword.

He then lunged forward, catching Squall totally off guard. Squall managed to get his gunblade up to defend, only to have it knocked right out of his hands. His foe had increased the strength in his attack, dramatically. He must have been toying with him. Squall was sure that, if his gunblade wasn't made out of indestructible metal, it would have split in half. Before he could move, his foe slashed him three times, the first got him on his right arm, the second at his waist and the third cut him just above his left knee. His foe stopped as Squall fell to the ground.

He looked at Squall, who was starting to sit up, then at Rinoa. He raised a hand and a faint light glowed at his palm. Squall noticed that the mercenary had something around his wrist. It looked like armour, but it had small slots, that held several green orbs, including a red one. His sword had the slots as well, some spheres were green and 2 were pink. One of the green spheres on his sword glowed brightly as did the glow at his hand. Squall suddenly realised that he was casting magic, and he was aiming for Rinoa! Angelo barked loudly at Rinoa, as if she was trying to warn her.

The glow at his hand turned yellow, and then bolts of lightning shot out towards Rinoa. Rinoa was too shocked to move, so Squall had to think fast. He concentrated and put his hand up and cast a spell on her. The lightning was stopped in its tracks and shot back towards its caster, thanks to the Reflect spell Squall had cast.

The mercenary stood calmly as the lightning bolts came at him. He raised his arm so that his armour was struck. The bolts disappeared as it was absorbed. He shut his eyes, as the energy ran through him. Squall and the others stood, or sat in Squall's case, in shock, as the cut on his arm healed.

The mercenary looked back down at Squall and smiled. He put his sword on his back and raised his hand. A glow appeared again as a different green sphere on the armour grew brighter. Squall shut his eyes ready to take the hit.

It didn't come.

Instead he felt his strength return to him, and his wounds heal. Squall slowly stood up and stared at the mercenary, totally bewildered.

"I'm sorry if I hurt you," the mercenary said, speaking for the first time since the start of the fight, "But it was necessary. I needed to see if you were a threat to the town up ahead."

"But sir?" Selphie started asking, "How do you know that we're not a threat just by fighting one of us?"

"Well, from my experience," he answered, "Usually the people I have fought didn't protect their comrades if they were in danger. That's how I knew that you're not a threat."

"Nice way to introduce yourself!" Squall said angrily, "I hope no one else around here is like you."

The man chuckled.

"What's so funny?" Squall asked, getting slightly annoyed.

"You don't know much about people round here, do you?"

Squall scowled at him. It was bad enough getting beat by him. Now he was saying that he's stupid.

"Where are you from anyway?" the man asked, curiously. He had never seen the clothes that some of these kids were wearing. Or their weapons.  Squall's gunblade, he thought, was particularly interesting.

"That's none of your god damn business" Squall answered curtly. Rinoa and the others instantly knew that he had said that a bit too rudely. The man's face had a scowl that scared Rinoa slightly. Squall had made a mistake by getting him angry.

The man raised his arm and a sphere on his armour started glowing. Without warning, a large green fog erupted around him and he shot it towards Squall. Squall was sent flying back, landing a good ten feet away. He tried to sit up, wincing in pain. Some of his leather was singed and his shirt had a burn mark on it. That guy had used magic. A powerful magic, at that.

"Listen kid," the mercenary growled, "You're either going to tell me who you are, or I'm going to force you to."

"First off, don't call me kid." Squall growled back, getting up again, "And second, tell us who you are first."

"My name's Cloud Strife," Cloud said, folding his arms, "I'm a former member of the resistance group, AVALANCHE."

"AVALANCHE? Never heard of them before." Zell asked.

Cloud looked at Zell with confused eyes. He was positive everyone knew of AVALANCHE. How couldn't they. It was thanks to AVALANCHE that the planet is still here.

"You've never heard of us?" He asked

"No, we haven't," Irvine said, "We're from a military academy called Garden. We're all SeeD's."

Cloud looked even more confused than ever.

"Did you lot bang your heads on the way here? There's is no such thing as Garden."

"Yes there is. We grew up there." Selphie said.

"I'm sorry, but there isn't."

"Oh, yeah?" Squall finally said, looking quite angry," How the hell would you know?"

"Because I've been to every town, city and continent on this planet, kid." Cloud said calmly.

"Stop calling me kid!" Squall shouted.

Cloud chuckled and looked away, "I'm older than you aren't I?

Squall just got even angrier, but knew how to respond.

"At least I'm taller."

This really got under Cloud's skin. He looked Squall dead in the eye, and glared. He looked absolutely furious.

"Listen, kid." He said, in a remarkably calm voice. "Better men than you have judged me by my size, and believe me, they've regretted it."

The stood in silence for a moment, before Quistis spoke.

"Cloud, could you tell us where we are?"

"Yes. This area is the Grassland Plains. The town a couple of miles north is Kalm."

Selphie and Irvine looked at each other, confused.  Being the pilots of the Ragnarok, they had both been around the world and had never heard of such a place.  Neither, apparently, had any of the others.

Squall was silent, deep in thought. If they stayed here, they would never find out what had happened to them.  But he didn't trust Cloud.  Maybe the others did, he didn't know, and wasn't about to ask them. Then there was the fact that they needed shelter, he was sure Kalm had inns. He made his decision.

"Can you take us there?" he asked

Cloud looked at Squall then at the rest of the group. He was sure he could trust these 'SeeD's' or whatever they were called. But something inside him told him that he needed to keep an eye on this Squall. He was obviously their leader, and if he didn't trust him and his friends, the rest would probably turn on them as well. But he was willing to get them a place at the inn. They looked exhausted.

"Sure. Looks like you need a place to stay anyway. I'll get you a few rooms at the inn when we get there. C'mon, let's go." He walked off heading towards Kalm with Squall and the others close behind.

A/N: Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry. I'm so, so, so sorry that this chapter took so long to come out, I've been really busy lately. Well, the mysterious character was Cloud, mmm. Next chapter, we'll be meeting up with the rest of the group. But on the way to Kalm, there'll be a 'pleasant' surprise for Cloud, Squall and his friends.


	4. Adventures On The Way

Summary: Squall and the gang found out that the person watching them was none other than Cloud Strife. He introduced himself in a less than friendly way. They find out where they are but they have never heard of the places around here. After learning a bit about each other, Cloud decided to take them to Kalm and let them stay at the inn.

Chapter 4 – Adventures on the Way

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Everyone was silent as Cloud led them to Kalm. Squall was back in his thinking state. Where were they? And who exactly was this man? Squall had never heard of AVALANCHE before. Cloud has said they were a resistance group. Resistance against what? Squall thought that they might be a group from Timber, but all of the groups names started with 'Forest.' He knew one thing though, he was going to get to the bottom of this and find a way home.

His thoughts then drifted to Garden. What was happening? Cid had probably sent out a search group to look for them. But Squall had no idea where he was. He was pretty sure that no one in Garden had heard of Kalm. He needed to find out what had really happened before he could figure out a way to get home.

Rinoa looked round and saw the pensive look on his face.

"Squall, what is it?" she asked quietly. She and Squall, along with Angelo, had been walking together at the back of the group.

"I'm just worried, that's all." He said barely audible.

"What about?"

"Everything. Something must have happened to us when the Ragnarok crashed, and I don't know what. I don't know where we are and I don't really trust this Cloud guy."

"I'm sure he's not that bad. He seemed to generally want to help us."

"Yeah, so much so that he attacked us."

"But that was to protect the town. I'm sure you would have done the same, if it were Garden you were protecting."

She was right, but he wasn't about to tell her that. He felt more anger towards Cloud than he did with Seifer. Seifer and Squall had been rivals ever since they were kids. The both wielded Gunblades and were very skilled at using them. Squall was the better of the two, he had proven that on many occasions but he was shocked at how easily Cloud had defeated him. He somehow knew the reason why. People who fought Cloud must think that he is weak because of his height. Then he used only one hand, which made his attacks weaker. When they see his attacks and strengthen up theirs, Cloud attacks with a lot more power, catching them off guard. Squall knew that Cloud was a very experienced fighter and a very strong one at that. Squall mentally kicked himself for falling for it.

But there was something about Cloud that scared him slightly. His eyes. The glow in them seemed unnatural. There was something else different about Cloud. Somehow, to Squall, it seemed almost imposable that someone this young could be so strong. The guy looked in his very early twenty's. Unless he had been fighting longer than Squall had, who had been trained in fighting for over 12 years, something else must be increasing his strength. Squall wanted to find out, but he certainly wasn't going to ask.

The group past a small forest, that seemed to have been growing for a short period of time. The trees were only about 8 or 9 feet high, where as most forests were about 15 feet.

Selphie looked into the forest and she saw something move. Through a gap in a hedge, she saw a slick black tail slither across the ground. Angelo also noticed this, and she began to bark loudly, getting everyone's attention

"Hey what's that?" She asked as everyone turned around.

As soon as she finished asking, a large jet black dragon shot out of the forest. It had two pairs of wings which had three toed claws on the end of each. Squall took out his Gunblade in case it attacked. The dragon looked at Cloud, then to the others. As its eyes landed on Squall's Gunblade, it let out an ear-piercing shriek and sent an energy blast down at the ground. Everyone was blasted of their feet as the ground exploded in front of them. Squall shakily stood up, raging. He shot a Flare spell at the dragon, but it was stopped in its tracks as it hit a barrier. It exploded, and both the spell and the barrier disappeared. Squall looked round to see Cloud, one of the armours spheres glowing, with his hand outstretched towards the dragon. He had stopped Squall's spell.

"What the HELL are you playing at!?" Squall shouted furiously. Cloud looked at him casually, and then put his hand into his pocket. He drew out another green orb and started changing it with one in his armour.

In the mean time, the dragon fired another energy blast and it hurled towards Squall. Unable to dodge it, the blast his Squall in the chest and hurled him backwards. He landed on the ground, uninjured but stunned. The dragon swooped down, its legs in front of its body, ready to attack. Squall sat up, wide eyed, and put his hand over his head protectively. But a few feet away, Squall heard Cloud shout 'STOP!' and it froze in mid-air. Squall opened one eye and looked up. It had been placed under a Stop spell. He looked at Cloud, who, again, had his hand outstretched. He walked in between the dragon and Squall and looked up at it. The dragons eyes could still move and it looked at Cloud.  Cloud shook his head.

"How many times have I told you not to attack strangers?"

Squall and the others were shocked as he finished saying this.

"What? This thing knows you!?" Irvine asked

Cloud looked round at him. "Yeah, he's mine." Cloud nodded at the dragon and the Stop spell was taken off. The dragon landed heavily on the ground and lowered its head, ashamed that he had just been told off. The dragon was almost twice as tall as Cloud and could easily kill him in one shot, but he didn't want to hurt his master.

"I don't want to have to tell you again, okay Bahamut."

Squall's eyes went wide.

"Bahamut!" he said in surprise. Both Cloud and the Bahamut looked at him, confusedly. "That's impossible."

"What are you talking about? How is it impossible?"

"Because we have the only Bahamut that exists."

Cloud looked more confused than ever.

"I don't think so kid," he said, "There are two Bahamut summons. One is mine; the other belongs to my friend Yuffie."

"Summons?" Quistis said. Cloud nodded.

"They exist in materia" he explained. He lifted up his armour to show them the spheres. "These are all materia. They are produced by a substance called Mako. It's usually magic that is stored inside, but sometimes, a monster would be born into the materia. The monster is called a summon. This one's called Bahamut."

"We have a Bahamut too," Selphie said, "But ours is a GF, or Guardian Force."

Cloud was now totally baffled.

"I've never heard of a GF before."

Selphie turned to Zell.

"Zell you have Bahamut junctioned don't you?" She asked. He nodded, already knowing what she was going to ask him to do.

He closed his eyes and concentrated. He awoke the GF inside of him as the sky darkened. From the dark clouds burst another dragon, one almost identical to Cloud's. It landed beside its 'twin' and they looked at each other. Angelo yelped in fright and ran behind Rinoa, hiding behind her legs, before she started barking at them.

"Wow!" was all that Cloud said, looking at the GF.

The clouds started to become lighter but not totally. Cloud, noticing this, looked up.

"Looks like there's a storm coming." That got the others attention and he looked up towards Kalm. "We should hurry if we don't want to be caught out in the storm." The others nodded and started walking after him, with the Bahamuts in toll, flying side by side.

"You guys should come to my place before going to the inn," Cloud continued, "There's someone I'd like you to meet."

A/N: Well, there's chapter four. Sorry if it was a bit boring. I wanted to get that Bahamut scene in cause I've been imagining it in my head for ages. Chapter 5 should come out a bit quicker than usual, since I'm it's the school holiday here. Anyway, hope you've enjoyed the story so far. 'Cause it's going to get better.

P.S. Sorry if the Bahamut descriptions aren't perfect. I haven't played Final Fantasy VII in a while. Oh and I just updated this chapter and the last. I forgot about Angelo, so I added her in. Just some small parts so it didn't affect the story.


	5. Relaxation In A Bar

A/N: Wow, two chapters up in one night, I must be getting good. I updated the previous two chapters because I forgot about Angelo. *GASP*

Rinoa: "Steph, how could you!?" in a hurt voice.

Me: "Sorry Rin. I won't do it again, I promise."

Anyway, they were just small bits I added, nothing that will change the story dramatically. I'd like to say thanks to Zyte, 'cause she's reviewed all of my chapters so far. YIPPEE! Someone likes my fic. I'll shut up now. Here's Chapter 5.

Summary – On the way to Kalm, Squall and the group are attacked by one of Cloud's summons. They find out that they have a GF just the same. Pretty boring chapter but I finally finished it. This time, they arrive in Kalm and meet a close friend of Cloud's.

Chapter 5 – Relaxation In A Bar

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Rain started to pour onto the group as they sprinted towards Kalm. The two Bahamuts flew above them, trying to stop some of the rain hitting them. It worked reasonably well, but it didn't stop them being soaked to the skin. They darted to the other side of Kalm, as everyone headed inside their houses. The storms here, when they got one, were particularly dangerous. The strong winds would almost go up to a weak hurricane force. Not enough to rip roofs off, but enough to force even the best drivers off roads.

They turned round a street corner and came up to a town square. There were mostly bars and restaurants around here, and the inn was further down the road.

Cloud pointed to the left and shouted about the wind noise, "There it is."

He was pointing to a small bar called the Seventh Heaven. He ran across and opened the door to let the others in. He then turned to his Bahamut and raised is armour. He focused and the summon glowed white and separated into white sparkles. They then went straight into a red materia on the armour. Zell called back his GF and ran inside when he felt his Bahamut inside of him again. He and Cloud went into the bar and shut the door, as the others put their bags on the floor, stood with their hands on their knees, panting heavily. Angelo, who was standing next to Squall, shook her fur coat, so that all the water sprayed onto him.

"Hey, Angelo!"

He could hear Cloud chuckle slightly, so he looked over and glared at him. Clouds clothes were sticking to him and his hair was soaked. His spikes sagged slightly but still stood up. He walked around the table, took his sword off his back, and stood it against the wall. He turned around to see everyone still standing.

"Guys, make yourself's at home." He said kindly.

They took there seats and looked around. The bar was quite large, it was obviously very popular. Squall doubted that Cloud ran this place by himself.

Cloud was taking off his armour when they heard a shout from upstairs.

"Cloud, is that you?"

It was a female voice.

"Yeah, it's me." He called back

They heard someone coming down the stairs. At the bottom of the stairs, stood a woman, about Rinoa height. She had dark brown hair that was tied into a ponytail and reached down to her waist. She wore a white tank top, a small black skirt, brown boots and she had gloves on. Although Squall loved Rinoa more than anything in the world, he couldn't help notice how pretty this woman was. She walked over to Cloud and gave him quick hug.

"Cloud, you're absolutely soaked. What happened?" she asked

"Another storm. And it's worse than the one yesterday."

She nodded and she then noticed Squall and the others.

"Oh, hi. Who are you?" she asked curiously

"I found them near the shore, a few miles south of here," Cloud said before any of them could answer, "They needed some shelter so I said they could rest here until the inn opens.

Tifa nodded again and turned back to the group.

"My name's Tifa. What's yours?"

Selphie stood up and went over to Tifa.

"My name's Selphie and these are Irvine, Zell, Quistis, Rinoa and Squall." She said pointing to each in turn. They each replied with a small hi.

Tifa smiled at them. "Do you want to get changed? There are a few spare rooms upstairs if you want to use them."

They each nodded, gathered up their things and headed upstairs.

There were four spare rooms, so Irvine and Selphie took one, as did Squall and Rinoa, and Quistis and Zell got the two that were left.

Squall went into his room and changed into his oh so familiar, black leather top, pants and gloves. Rinoa changed into her usual with her black top and shorts, along with her blue cardigan (I don't know what to call it), which had the white angel wings on the back.

"Tifa's really nice isn't she?" Rinoa asked Squall.

"Yeah, it's nice of her to let us stay here for the evening. I would have hated to be in that storm a second longer."

"Yeah. Do you think we should go get something to eat?"

"I think we should. I don't want to listen to Zell's whining about him being hungry."

Rinoa laughed and hugged Squall. He put his arms around her protectively.

"Squall, what's happened? How did we end up here? According to Cloud there's no such thing as Garden around here."

"Listen Rinoa, Cloud's just being an asshole. Don't listen to him."

"You don't like him much do you?"

"No, I don't. I hate how he calls me kid and acts tough just because he has a giant sword on his back."

"Are you sure that's the only reason you don't like him?"

This got Squall angry. He pulled away from Rinoa and walked towards the door, anger written all over his face.

"Squall, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said." Rinoa said apologetically.

"Whatever." Squall growled. He walked out of his room, leaving a very upset Rinoa.

Squall was furious with Cloud. Not only did he beat him badly, he humiliated him in front of his friends. His attitude was made him even angrier. But what really got under his skin, was how much Cloud frightened him, his eyes had an unusual glow and his strength seemed unreal. There was something inhuman about him. The only real time Squall had been scared was when Ultimecia nearly killed all of them and achieved total Time Compression. He had been very scared then. He thought that his friends were dead, he had been hurt badly and he had been alone again. He had never been more frightened in his life.

Squall had made it to the end of the hall and he stood at the top of the stairs. He quietly walked down but stopped when he heard Cloud and Tifa talking.

"…they claim they're from a place called Garden, but there's no such thing. I didn't recognise the clothes they wore and I didn't recognise any of their weapons."

"What about that Squall kid's weapon?" Tifa asked, "It looks like a sword."

Squall sat on the stairs, listening intently.

"No. I saw it when I fought him. It looked like a sword with a gun at the handle. It looked particularly lethal."

"What did he say when you attacked him?"

"Well, he wasn't pleased I can tell you that. He's been hostile to me ever since."

"You didn't have a choice. You had to find out if he was a threat to the town."

"Yeah, I know. I told him that but he just doesn't get it. I'm not taking any chances, especially after Nibelhiem being burnt down. I don't want you to get hurt either."

"I know how you feel about Nibelhiem and Kalm, Cloud. I feel the same way." She paused for a few moments before speaking again. "Why don't you get changed? You look freezing. I'll get dinner ready, I'm sure the others will want something to eat as well."

"Sure Teef." And with that, he walked out of the kitchen and headed towards the stairs. Squall started walking down as if he had just come down the hall. Cloud stopped as Squall went past him.

"You shouldn't listen to other people's conversations Squall." He said, so quietly Squall barely heard him.

Squall looked round at him, surprised.

"You never know what you might hear." Cloud whispered before going up the stairs.

Squall watched him go up the stairs, and then took a seat at the table. Angelo was lying in front of a fire, drying off. She slept peacefully. How had Cloud known he was there? Before he had time to think about it, Tifa stepped into the bar.

"Hey Squall. What's wrong?" She asked sitting next to him. "Is it Cloud?"

Squall looked at her and nodded. She seemed to understand.

"I'm sorry that he attacked you, but he only wanted to protect Kalm. He didn't want Kalm to be burnt down like Nibelhiem."

"I know I heard you both talking."

"So that's why his eyes kept darting to the stairs."

"How did he know I was there?"

"I'm not quite sure, but it's a good thing he can know things like that. That's why he was such a good leader for AVALANCHE."

Squall looked shocked.

"Leader!?"

Tifa turned her head to Squall.

"Didn't he tell you?"

"He said he was a member of AVALANCHE. He said nothing about being the leader."

"That's understandable. He never brags about anything. He's always humble about stuff like saving the planet."

"You guys saved the planet too huh?"

"Yeah, it was quite an adventure. Me, Cloud, Barret, Cid, Red XIII, Vincent, Yuffie and Aeris." Her voice saddened as she said 'Aeris.' Squall could see her eyes slowly fill with tears.

"Tifa, you alright?"

She wiped her eyes and forced a smile.

"Yeah I'm okay. It's just…we lost Aeris. She sacrificed herself to save us. With her help, Holy was summoned. With her help, Meteor was destroyed. We…we all took her death hard. Especially Cloud. He blamed himself for her death."

"Why?"

Tifa looked at him and hesitated.

"I…I'm sorry I can't tell you."

"Why not?"

She hesitated again.

"I'm sorry, I just can't."

Squall nodded.

"I understand."

She smiled and walked back into the kitchen. 

Squall sat there, quietly, thinking again. What was it about Cloud that Tifa kept it a secret? It was obvious that it had something to do with the reason Cloud blamed himself for Aeris' death. Whatever it was, it was none of his business.

* * * * *

Everyone, with the exception of Cloud, was sitting at the dining table. Tifa had given them all a glass of her 'Final Heaven' special. Everyone was quietly enjoying it while Tifa cooked the dinner.

"Alright everyone, dinner's ready." She told them happily.

"Tifa, you really don't need to." Zell said

"Nonsense. I want to, besides, you kids must be starving."

"Well, I guess you're right."

"Better listen to her and stay Zell." Cloud said walking into the room. He was wearing a navy t-shirt and joggers. "Tifa's food is the best. That's one of the things this bar's famous for."

"Cloud! Stop it." She said blushing slightly, "Here you go guys." She said putting the plates onto the table, with some help from Selphie. She then got her own plate and sat next to Cloud.

Squall took a bite out of the chicken that Tifa had cooked. It was delicious. He could taste the rich flavour on his tongue. He enjoyed it to its fullest and ate more.

"Wow, Tifa this is really good." Quistis said happily. "You need to show me how to cook this."

"Thanks, Quistis."

Everyone was quiet while they ate. They had desert, which was triple chocolate gateau, and Cloud decided to ask Squall about his Gunblade.

"Squall. What type of weapon have you got? I've never seen anything like that before."

"It's called a Gunblade. As you can probably guess, its part gun, part blade. They're quite rare. The kind of Gunblade I have is one of a kind, it's called the Lionheart."

"Not bad. How does it work?"

"Well, when I hit my opponent, I can pull the trigger at the handle. It sets of a small blast at the end of the blade. That way I can do more damage."

"That's quite interesting. My sword is one of a kind. The more energy I have, the stronger my attacks. So if I get hurt, my attacks become weaker. But if I'm at full strength, my attacks can do a lot of damage."

"That's a bit silly, isn't it?" Rinoa said sceptically, "Because if you get hurt, like really badly, you won't be able to defend yourself."

"Well that's where magic and my own abilities come in. I've mastered my use of materia so I can cast very powerful spells, and as a bonus, I have very good reflexes. That's why I was able to dodge most of your attacks, Squall."

"What's your sword called?" Irvine asked.

"The Ultima Weapon."

Squall stopped eating, taken aback by what he had just heard. Ultima Weapon. Now it made sense.

"Now I know why I recognise that sword. We fought a monster called Ultima WEAPON. It was carrying that sword."

Cloud looked surprised. As did Tifa. What did this mean? Cloud had gotten that sword from Ultimate WEAPON. One of the five WEAPONS that had threatened the planets population. What was going on?

They finished their meal, and uncomfortable silence between them. They headed up to their beds. Tifa was letting them stay the night, as they storm hadn't stopped. Squall walked upstairs and entered his room. He got into bed as Rinoa climbed in next to him. She soon drifted off to sleep, but Squall stayed awake. He had a feeling he wasn't going to get much sleep tonight.


	6. Walk Of Wallace

A/N: Hey guys. Ta, if you reviewed. I thought the last chapter was going to be boring but that's my opinion. Anyway, here's chapter 6.

P.S. I've added a new bit to my profile. If you want news on how my chapters and stories are coming along, better summaries of my fic and summaries of upcoming fics, check it out. I'll do my best to update the profile everyday to give you the low-down.__

Summary – The gang was introduced to Tifa, and was offered a place to stay. Squall notices strange things about Cloud and talks to Tifa about it. She doesn't say much so Squall drops the subject. Everyone finds out that Cloud's sword, is the same one held by the Ultima WEAPON Squall and the others had fought. But Cloud's sword is unique. What did it mean?

Chapter 6 – The Walk Of Wallace

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Squall woke up the next morning, very tired. He hadn't slept well. He rubbed his eyes and looked at Rinoa. She wasn't there. He quickly got up and dressed and headed downstairs. Tifa, Quistis, Zell and Irvine were all sitting at the table. They each held a mug of coffee and were talking quietly. They all looked round as they saw Squall coming down the stairs.

"S'up Squall?" Zell greeted him happily. "Man, you look terrible. Didn't sleep well?"

Squall nodded simply and headed into the kitchen and got some coffee. He sat next to Quistis and began to drink it. He instantly felt the caffeine kick in.

He drained half the cup before he spoke.

"Where's Rinoa and Selphie?" he asked.

"They're exploring the town. It looks like we might be here a while. Since we don't know how to get back to Garden."

"How did you get here anyway?" Tifa asked curiously

"We were in an airship called the Ragnarok," Quistis explained, "There was a storm and the Ragnarok was struck by lightning. We crashed into the sea and thanks to Squall we managed to escape. We swam to shore, located each other and started to head here. That's when Cloud found us."

"Where is Cloud? I haven't seen him all morning." Irvine asked Tifa.

"He's out training."

"Why? He's perfectly strong enough." Squall asked

"Well," Tifa said, "Unlike you, we don't have GF's to junction to, to make us stronger. The materia we use actually makes us weaker in strength and stamina, so that's why we train more."

"I guess…but wait. How do you know about the GF's?"

"Rinoa explained it to me and Cloud this morning"."

Squall felt a twinge of jealousy. Rinoa seemed to be telling Cloud more than he needs to know.

They were interrupted by a knock at the door. Before Tifa could answer it, the man walked in. Tifa face owned a wide smile as she saw who it was.

"Hey Tif. Long time no see."

* * * * *

Cloud was on his way home. He was covered in sweat, having been training so hard. He couldn't wait to get back to the bar, cleaned and have a nice mug of coffee to drink. The bar wouldn't be open for another few hours. He turned the corner to the Town Square when he heard a familiar voice.

"Uncle Cloud!"

He turned round to see 5 year old Marlene run up to him. He picked her up as she reached him.

"Hey Marlene." He hugged her and she hugged him.

"Guess what, daddy came. He went to the bar." She squealed happily in his arms.

Cloud smiled. He hadn't seen his friend in a while, and for some reason, he wasn't looking forward to seeing him again.

"C'mon lets go see him."

"YEAH!!"

He let Marlene down and she walked beside him as they headed to the bar.

* * * * *

"Barret!" She yelled happily, seeing her old friend. She ran up to him and hugged him. He gave her his usual bear-hug until she could hardly breathe.

Squall had never seen anyone like him. He was about six and a half feet tall and had very dark skin. He wore baggy green trousers and an old brown waistcoat, which had some tears in it. He had a skull tattoo on his left arm and wore fingerless gloves. On his left hand anyway, his right wasn't there. Instead there was a grafted gun.

"Whoa!" Zell gasped as he noticed the gun-arm. "That is so cool."

Barret gave them an awkward look, "What you never seen a grafted gun before?" All 4 SeeD's shook their heads.

Tifa gave a slight cough and hurriedly said, "They're not from around here."

"Oh, well it ain't none o' ma business. Yo Tif, where's spike?"

'Spike?' Squall wondered who he was talking about. His trail of thought was broken as a small girl walked into the bar, closely followed by Cloud. Squall thought Cloud looked absolutely exhausted. And what Barret did next must have made him worse.

"Hey, hey Spike! How ya bin?" He yelled happily, grabbing Cloud in a headlock and scalping his head with his knuckles. Squall started silently laughing, clutching his ribs because he was laughing so hard. The scene made Barret look like a sixteen year old playing with his ten year old brother. Especially with the size difference. Barret was easily almost a foot taller than Cloud.

"Ow! I was fine till you came, now get off me!" he yelled back. Barret let go of his head and picked up Marlene. Cloud, meanwhile stood up straight and started rubbing his neck. "Do you have to do that every time you come round?"

"Yep." He said shortly and put Marlene down again. Then someone else came into the bar. It was Selphie, Rinoa and Angelo.

"PUPPY!!" Marlene yelled with excitement, running up to Angelo and cuddling her. She pulled away and Angelo licked her. Marlene giggled in pleasure. Not one person in the room couldn't not smile. Selphie and Rinoa took their seats next to their boyfriends. Rinoa gave Squall a quick kiss on the cheek, they had made up after Rinoa had gotten Squall angry the day before.

"So, who are you kids?" Barret asked. Squall frowned slightly. He hated being called a kid. But he could accept it from Barret. He looked almost twice his age, maybe a few years above.

"We're from a place called Garden. You probably haven't heard of us. We're SeeD's." Quistis explained.

Barret was more confused than Cloud had been when he first heard that. He proved that straight away.

"You guys run a flower show or somethin'?"

Cloud and Tifa, silently, burst out laughing. Tifa had to hold onto Cloud for support, where as Cloud looked like he was crying. They both had their hands on their mouths to stifle the sound.

"No. Garden is a military school." Quistis continued "And SeeD are mercenaries. We except missions from towns or cities that need help."

"Oh! Right. But I ain't never heard of ya."

"That's alright," Irvine said, "Not many people round here have."

Tifa and Cloud had finally stopped laughing and had pulled themselves together.

"So Barret, what brings you here?" Cloud asked "Is it a quick stop or have you brought something for us."

"Both, actually." Barret said. He put his hand in his pocket and brought out a small frame. He handed it to Tifa who gasped.

"Cloud look!"

She signalled him to look at the picture in the frame. As he did, a wide smile grew on his face.

It was a picture of AVALANCHE outside the ruins of Midgar. Cloud, Tifa, Cid, Barret, Vincent, Red XIII, Cait Sith and Yuffie. They were all standing near the badly damaged Highwind airship. It had been taking a few hours after Meteor had been destroyed. The date was at the bottom. 5 July 3025. That night, there had been a huge celebration in Gold Saucer. Everyone across the world had come. AVALANCHE, of course, were special guests.

"Thanks Barret." Cloud said. "I forgot about getting this done."

"No prob. Now as thanks, you can introduce me to these kids."

After short introductions were made, Cloud went to make some coffee while Tifa put the picture up on the wall. She then went to the kitchen along with the others. Squall however took a look at the picture. He could see the flame infested ruins of Midgar in the background and all of AVALANCHE standing in front. He smiled as he saw the happy look on all of their faces. His eyes then scrolled down to the date. He gasped. His eyes went wide and his face had been drained of all colour. 3025! That couldn't be right.

He started to find it hard to breathe and he went outside for some air.

Rinoa heard the bar door shut and she quickly followed him.

Squall stood next to the wall. Rinoa walked up to him and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Squall, what is it?"

He slowly turned to face her. His face was white and he looked as if someone had just told him one of his friends had died.

"I know how we got here." He said quietly.

"How?"

He hesitated before asking Rinoa, "Rinoa, what year is it?"

She was surprised. Why was he asking her this? "4379."

Squall shook his head. "No it isn't."

Rinoa was starting to get scared. "Squall what's wrong?" she asked in a scared voice.

"We didn't just land, hundreds of miles away from Garden." He said, barely audible, "We went back in time. Over a thousand years back in time."

A/N: OMG. Back in time, that would be cool. Anyway. Please, please review. And again. Check my profile for some news on my fics, plus summaries.


	7. Explanations

A/N: Thanks for the reviews guys. Here's Chapter 7. It'll probably be quite boring so read at own risk. LOL. Latest news has been added to profile.

Summary – Barret and Marlene Wallace arrive in Kalm and meet Squall and the others. He had brought Cloud and Tifa a picture of AVALANCHE. While looking at the picture, Squall finds out what has happened. They've went back in time.

Chapter 7 - Explanations

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Squall woke up as he felt Rinoa move, who was lying next to him. She was sleeping peacefully, her head on his bare chest and one of her legs over one of his. Her hand was at Squall's waist and she tightened her grip of him. She was obviously dreaming. But Squall hadn't dreamed. He hadn't gotten to sleep until a few hours ago. He looked at the clock next to his bed. It read 6:30. He silently cursed and got up, careful not to wake Rinoa. He got dressed into his normal leather outfit and headed out the room, grabbing his gunblade on the way. He decided to do some training. It might help him sleep better.

As he walked outside, he saw a large forest in the distance. It didn't look far away so he decided to go there. He walked across the plains, undisturbed. He thought about what he had found out last night. They were in the past. Over 1,000 years in the past. Squall started to wonder if they would ever get back. He knew next to nothing of time travel. It was only thanks to Ellone that they had been able to go to the future. But Ellone wasn't here. Squall walked on until he reached the forest. He felt helpless. This was their worst danger yet, and for the first time as a leader, Squall didn't have all the answers.

His track of thought was disturbed by a very loud crash. It sounded like a tree had fallen down. He walked over to where he had heard the sound. In the distance he saw someone standing here. He couldn't see their face, but their hair was easily recognisable.

It was Cloud.

He had a large sword in his hand, but it wasn't his Ultima Weapon. Squall walked round until Cloud's back was facing him. He watched Cloud as he started to go to his left, away from Squall. But he stopped suddenly, as if he had heard something. Squall noticed that one of the materia in his sword had started glowing. It was one of the yellow materia. Cloud's head turned in Squall's direction, but he looked to the floor.

"You don't have to hide Squall." He turned his whole body round and looked Squall directly in the eyes. Squall walked into the opening where Cloud stood and looked over Cloud's shoulder. There was a twenty foot tree lying on the floor, obviously the one that had made the noise.

"Whoa." Squall whispered. Cloud walked over and sat on the trunk, Squall did the same.

They sat quietly before Squall broke the silence.

"How did you know it was me?" he asked.

Cloud looked at him and raised his sword, so Squall can see the materia. There was a singular yellow materia on it. The one Squall had seen glow earlier.

"It's called Sense materia. It lets me scan the area for monsters or enemies. I can tell how strong a person is. Their strength's, their weaknesses and their names."

Something clicked; Cloud hadn't asked Squall and his friends their names when he met them. It was as if he already knew.

"Did you 'Sense' us the day we met?" he asked.

Cloud nodded. "Yeah, I saw you earlier that day. You were standing on a small hill looking at the 'Flare' spells. I really strained myself trying to 'Sense' you from that distant. I managed it though. And I managed to 'Sense' the others when you came to where I was. You were the strongest, so I knew that you would be the worst threat. Apart from Rinoa. She has really high magical powers."

"That's because she's a sorceress." Cloud snapped his head round. What the hell was a sorceress? Squall knew that Cloud was baffled, so he explained what they are. "They're humans who have magical powers. They're very skilled with magic and can use their powers for other things. Most sorceresses as born with their powers but Rinoa got hers last year."

"How?"

"An evil sorceress from the future, called Sorceress Ultimecia, took control of one of the sorceresses from our time. A woman called Edea Kramer. She was the one who brought me and the others up. Except Rinoa, she still has her father. We call her Matron. Ultimecia took over Matron and tried to find Ellone. She was another girl at the orphanage, who we called Sis. Sis has the ability to send someone into someone else's past. Ultimecia wanted to use that power to achieve Time Compression. The past, present and future would have been melded together and Ultimecia would have taken over everything. We managed to stop her, but Rinoa got her powers from Matron. When a sorceress is beaten, her powers are past on. Matron gave hers to Rinoa. After we beat Ultimecia everything went back to normal. But something else has happened now. We've went back, over 1,000 years, in time. And I don't know how to get back." He ended sadly.

Cloud couldn't help but feel some sympathy for Squall. He was away from his home, with no known way to get back. Cloud promised himself that he would help them get back home.

"What are you planning to do?" Cloud asked

"I don't know. We'll probably stick around here for a while. Until I find away to get back home."

Cloud smiled at Squall's determination. He wasn't doing this just for himself, but for his friends as well.

Cloud suddenly had an idea. He stood up and looked around.

"Squall you have your GF's junctioned don't you?"

"Yeah." Squall said; a little confused as to why Cloud asked him that.

Cloud's aqua-marine eyes scanned the forest for movement. This place was usually littered with monsters. Cloud was surprised that they hadn't been attacked yet. Is Sense materia flared up again, as Cloud scanned for monsters. He found one to their left. It was about ten feet away. Cloud stopped scanning and instead, concentrated on another yellow materia, this time in his armour. He cast the spell at the monster and felt it take affect.

"What are you doing?" Squall asked. He saw the monster come out into the opening but it walked casually. It didn't look like it was going to attack.

"I heard from Rinoa that you can draw magic from monsters. If you'll be staying around here, you're going to need some. Go ahead. He won't attack you. I have him under 'Manipulation.'"

"Manipulation?"

"It lets me control whatever creature, or even human, I use it on. I can control their every move. It can be pretty handy in battles. But if the monster is attacked, the Manipulation wares off. So go ahead, see if it has any magic."

Squall nodded and closed his eyes. He used his mind to feel the presences inside the monster's body. He couldn't feel anything. The monsters in this time didn't have magic.

"Well?" Cloud asked

Squall opened his eyes and shook his head. Cloud sighed and slashed the monster in half. He sat down again, with his head in his hands. Squall stayed standing. There was no magic. That left him and his friends in a very tight spot. If they were in danger and a large amount of magic was required, they're magic stock would run out, leaving them defenceless.

Cloud finished his thinking and stood up.

"Well, there's only one option."

"What's that?" Squall asked curiously.

"You'll have to learn how to use materia."

"Are you serious?" Squall asked, very surprised indeed.

"Yep. I can teach you and your friends if you want me too."

"Sure."

"Well then. Meet me here after dinner, we can start then. Make sure you bring your Gunblade, in case you're attacked."

And with that Cloud left the forest, leaving a very shocked Squall on his own. He was going to learn to use materia. This was so cool! Squall was already anxious to start but decided to calm himself down by slaughtering a few monsters before heading back to Kalm.

A/N: Sorry if you found that chapter boring but...I don't know what to say. R & R. PLEASE.


	8. The Ways Of The Materia

A/N: I'm back again. I've been working on this chapter all day; it took me forever to do. I would like to thank Zyte, Fallen Angel X and edenblack18 for their reviews. Thanks very much. Here's Chapter 8.

Summary – Squall hasn't been sleeping well so he decides to wear himself out by training. At the forest, however, he meets Cloud. Squall explains what has happened to them and makes a startling discovery. The monsters in Cloud's time don't have magic to draw. Cloud decides to teach Squall how to use materia, and Squall accepts the offer.

Chapter 8 – The Ways Of The Materia

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The rest of the day past without incident. It was soon dinner time. Tifa had cooked up another fabulous meal, along with a glass of her popular Final Heaven drink. Squall finished his meal and listened to the others talking.

Irvine, Selphie and Zell sat to the left of Squall. They were laughing at the joke Irvine had just told. Cloud, Tifa, Barret and Quistis sat talking just opposite Squall. He could hear the conversation over the laughter.

 "Gold Saucer?" Tifa asked.

"Yeah, this Saturday. Everything's free." Cloud answered

"They have the promotion once a year. We were at the promotion last year." Barret explained

"You wanna go?" Quistis asked them, "I think my friends would like i."

"Sure, how 'bout you Tif?" Barret asked her

"Yeah." She answered

"So it's settled then," Cloud said, "We'll leave on Friday, it'll take us at least a whole day to reach there. We can cross on the ships that are leaving from Junon."

They all nodded. A split second before they turned round, Squall looked somewhere else. He didn't want to be caught eavesdropping. He stood up and went into the living room. He saw Rinoa and Marlene on the floor stroking Angelo, who was lying on her back. Rinoa noticed him when he sat down and she joined him.

"What's wrong Squally?" she asked him. "You look exhausted."

"I am." He replied "I didn't get much sleep last night."

"I don't blame you. You must be worried. Why don't you just relax." she said as she leaned forward and kissed him, wrapping her arms around his neck. She drew her lips away from his and he spoke again.

"I want to but…" he was cut off as Rinoa kissed him again. He kissed back and wrapped his hands around her waist. They sat kissing passionately before they heard the slam of a door shutting. The broke their kiss and looked around, a few seconds later Tifa came into the room.

"Who left?" Squall asked

"It was Cloud. He said he was going to train. There was something weird. He took extra materia and an Iron Bangle." Tifa answered

Squall suddenly remembered. Cloud wanted them to meet in the forest. He was going to teach Squall how to use materia.

"I think I'll join him. I want to try and get a decent sleep tonight, a few hours training might help." With that he picked up his gunblade, gave Rinoa a peck on the cheek and walked out.

It only took him about 20 minutes to get to the forest. He went to the opening where he had seen Cloud earlier. Cloud was sitting down sorting the materia on his sword and armour. He saw Squall and stood up. He threw the Iron Bangle at Squall, who caught it easily.

"Put it on." He said simply.

Squall did what he was told. He slipped it on and looked at it. There was a single materia slot in it. The materia had 'Bolt' written on it. Squall figured that it was the lightning spell Cloud had fired at Rinoa.

Cloud stood a few feet away from Squall and started explaining how materia worked.

"Alright. Materia can be quite hard to use at first but once you learn how, it'll be easy with almost every other materia. First, you need to focus on drawing the magic out of the materia, picking your target then releasing the magic. Second, you need to keep the magic under control. If you don't it was backfire and there's a high chance of the spell attacking itself and exploding. Third, once you've mastered how to control the magic, you need to learn to change the power of your attacks. You can make it stronger or weaker. I could fire a very weak ice spell at you and it wouldn't faze you in the slightest."

"Okay." Squall said, showing that he understood. It sounded very difficult but he was willing to give it a go.

"You ready to give it a shot?" Cloud asked

"Yeah, definitely." Squall answered confidently.

"Okay, now start off by focusing on the materia and start drawing the magic out. If you're successful, the materia should start glowing."

Squall nodded and started to focus. He figured that drawing the magic from materia was the same as drawing magic from an enemy. He started to feel the energy build up, he then saw the materia glow faintly. He drew more of the magic and the materia grew brighter. He felt the energy surge through his body. A glow at his other hand started to form. Cloud smiled.

"That's good. Now, draw more of the magic to make the energy stronger, but keep it under control. You'll start to feel slightly weaker but that's normal."

Squall nodded again and drew more of the magic out. The glow at his palm grew brighter and brighter. He suddenly felt weak, very weak. His energy was being drained and he started gasping for breathe. The energy at his palm went back into his body, instantly making Squall yell in pain. There was a small explosion as the magic backfired. The blast knocked him off his feet and he landed hard on his back. He stared to become drowsy before he felt his energy return. Cloud finished casting cure and Squall shakily stood up. Cloud looked impressed.

"Well done. You almost had it. A few more tries and you might actually cast it properly."

"Why did I suddenly feel so weak? It felt like my energy was being sucked out of me."

"When we cast materia, we have to use up our energy to cast the spell. That's one of the side effects of using materia. It tires you out. C'mon, try again."

Squall stood up and readied himself. He focused and started to draw the magic out again.

* * * * *

"Guys, can I have your attention."

Everyone looked round at Tifa. She sounded like a teacher. Barret was standing behind her

"Okay," she started, "According to Squall, you're going to be here for a while, so you might as well get to know our world. Me, Cloud and Barret have decided to take you to Gold Saucer. It's a large theme park sort of place. There are arcades, battle arenas and Chocobo races."

"Cool!" Zell gasped. He wanted to see the Chocobo races, and maybe take part in it himself. The others looked excited.

"This Saturday is the Annual Promotion, where everything you try is free. But it's for one night only. If you want to come, we're leaving tomorrow. It will take just under a day to get there. We can use the rooms in the ghost hotel until nightfall, that's when the promotion starts."

"Does Squall know about this?" Rinoa asked.

"Yes, according to Cloud. He was listening to us when we discussed it."

Rinoa was taken aback. How did Cloud know these things?

Tifa looked at the clock. It was 10:30.

"Okay guys, up to bed. You're going to need plenty of sleep; we're leaving first thing tomorrow morning."

* * * * *

Squall felt his energy return as he recovered from the backfire, for the fifth time.

"Why can't I do it!? He yelled.

Cloud was starting to feel tired himself. The constant casting of spells was taking its toll.

"I think I know why," he said. Squall stood up. "You're focusing too much on making the magic stronger. You need to focus more on controlling it."

Squall nodded and readied himself. He started to focus again. He had easily mastered drawing the magic out so it only took in a few seconds to do so. Soon, the energy was once again glowing at his hand. This was it. He was going to do it this time. He slowly drew out the magic, concentrating more on keeping it under control. The spell got stronger and Squall felt a strange sensation in his body. He felt his energy slip again but only slightly. He felt his body tense up as he aimed the magic for Cloud. The magic started to take his energy again. He could feel it begging to be cast. He started to sweat. He tried to release the magic but it was straining his mind. Cloud noticed this.

"DO IT!"

Squall let the magic go, and fell to his knees. The lightning spell struck Cloud in the chest, knocking him to the floor. He quickly cured himself and Squall and they both stood up.

"That was very good. It takes most people a day or two to actually cast the spell." He looked up at the sky. It was starting to get dark; it took nightfall longer to set in here. "We should head back. You're going to need some rest for tomorrow."

Squall didn't want Cloud to know he had listened to their conversation at dinner, so he acted as if he didn't know what Cloud was talking about.

"What's happening tomorrow?"

Cloud looked at him, and smiled almost sarcastically. "Don't play dumb Squall. I know you were listening to us at dinner."

He picked up his sword and started to head up to Kalm. Squall followed close behind.

They reached Kalm just as nightfall sank in. As they entered the bar, Squall decided to ask Cloud something.

"Cloud, how do you know things like that?"

Cloud knew what he was talking about but didn't answer the question.

"Make sure you get plenty of sleep tonight." He said as he put his sword and armour away. "You're going to need it."

With that he headed upstairs to his bedroom, leaving a suspicious Squall downstairs.

Cloud was hiding something, Squall knew that. But what was it? Squall didn't know, but he was going to find out. He headed up to his bedroom and walked in. Rinoa looked fast asleep. Trying not to wake her, Squall got undressed and slipped into the bed next to her. She was obviously still awake. She wrapped her arms around him and put her head on his chest, like she usually did. Squall felt exhausted. He put his head down on the soft pillow and closed is eyes. He fell asleep moments later.

A/N: Well hoped you liked that. I found it really hard to explain how materia works but this was the best I could come up with. Be kind and review. Thanks.


	9. On The Way There

A/N: Hey guys. Well here it is chapter 9. May be rubbish but bear with me okay, I'm kinda running out of ideas. Oh and anyone who likes this fic, I'd recommend…no I don't recommend, I'm TELLING you to go to my profile. I have some new news for fans of this fic.

Summary – Realising that they will eventually run out of magic, Squall takes up Cloud's offer and learns how to use materia, but things don't start out as well as he thought. Meanwhile, Tifa invites everyone to visit Gold Saucer for the annual promotion. Squall becomes curious about Cloud's ability to tell when Squall is eavesdropping and asks him about it. But Cloud keeps quiet and Squall becomes suspicious.

Chapter 9 – On The Way There

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"Squally. Come on, it's time to get up."

Squall groaned, turned onto his side and put the pillow over his head. Rinoa stood up and sighed. She went over to his side of the bed and summoned her magic. She quickly lifted the pillow off Squall's head and sprayed her water spell on his face.

"HEY!" he choked. He sat up coughing, having swallowed a lot of water. Angelo jumped on the bed and started licking the water of his face. "What did you do that for?" he asked through Angelo's constant licking.

"You know why I did it. Come on, we have to leave early if we're going to make it to Gold Saucer by tonight. Tifa said it would take us about half a day to get there."

Squall sighed, pushed Angelo off and got up. He got dressed in his usual black leather jacket and pants, and went downstairs with Rinoa. Everyone was already downstairs but both Cloud and Barret were missing. Everyone each greeted each other with a good morning and went outside. It was dawn. Squall could see the sun behind the horizon, the light making the sky orange. It was beautiful. They each walked to the vehicle hire store in Kalm. There stood Barret, beside a jeep, and Cloud, beside two motorcycles. The group of seven walked up to them.

"Morning, guys." Cloud greeted them.

"Morning y'all." Barret said happily.

"Morning." They chorused back.

"Okay, I'll explain how we're getting there." Cloud said. "We'll drive to Junon, which is on the opposite side of those mountains," pointed to the mountains south-west of Kalm, "That'll take about 3 hours because we have to cross a marsh, then go through the Mythril Mines. From there we'll take a cruise boat to Costa Del Sol, the ride takes nearly five hours, and then we head to North Corel. There is a tram there that leads all the way to Gold Saucer. We can save at least 2 hours using the tram. Is everyone okay with this?"

They each nodded. Tifa however was a bit confused.

"Cloud, why didn't you just phone Cid and ask him to fly us there?" she asked

"I did," Cloud said sadly, "But the Sentinel isn't ready yet. One of the engines failed, but he should be able to fix that quite soon. And if we're lucky, he may be able to take us home in it tomorrow."

Tifa smiled at this. She liked flying on Cid's airships. She then thought how Cloud would feel. With his motion sickness, he can never really enjoy a trip on the ship.

"We'd better be goin'!" Barret said, snapping Tifa out of her trance.

"How are we supposed to fit ten people and a dog into a jeep?" Irvine asked.

"Don't be stupid Irvine!" Quistis said in her serious instructor voice, "We're not all going in the jeep you idiot."

"Six of us and Angelo will go in the jeep. The four that are left will pair up and take the motorbikes. I'm taking a motorbike since it doesn't affect my motion sickness."

"Oh, oh, I've got an idea!" Squealed a happy Selphie, as she bounced on her feet. Everyone looked at her and waited for her to tell them. "I'm the best driver so I'll drive the jeep and Squall is best at riding a motorbike. Rinoa can go with Squall, since their going out." They both blushed at this.  "So someone will have to go with Cloud and the rest of us will go in the jeep."

"I'll go with Cloud." Tifa volunteered. Barret smiled. He knew Tifa's feelings for Cloud and vice versa, but they both kept it to themselves. He thought it was a shame. they would make a great couple, having known each other almost all their lives.

"Okay it's settled. Squall, Rinoa, Cloud and Tifa will take the bikes and the rest will take the jeep." Zell explained; making sure everyone was happy. The each nodded and went to their vehicles.

Both Cloud and Squall started their bikes before the girls climbed on behind them. The girls both wrapped their arms around the torso of their rider and held on tight. Rinoa's grip was stronger than Tifa's because she had never been on a bike before. Tifa had been on a bike with Cloud plenty of times so she knew how Cloud drove. Fast and recklessly.

In the jeep, Selphie and Irvine sat in the front, with Selphie driving. Marlene was on her dad's knee while Angelo was in the space behind the chairs. Rinoa had given her a chewy to keep her interested.

Soon they were off. They headed towards the Zolom Marsh with Cloud in the lead. It took them almost an hour to get to the marsh. When they came near Cloud slowed to a stop.

"What is it?" Squall aked, pulling up next to him. He watched Cloud as his aquamarine eyes scanned the area. He looked at Squall and pointed to the mountain. Squall looked where he was pointing and saw a cave entrance on the mountainside.

"Go in there, follow the vehicle path until you find the exit."

"Why…" Squall began to ask before he was cut off.

"Just do it!" Cloud told him sharply. He signalled the van to follow Squall and they all headed out towards the cave.

Squall was confused as to why Cloud had suddenly taken up the rear. But his confusion soon disappeared when he heard a loud screech from behind him. Everyone looked round and saw a large snake come up through the surface of the marsh. It was at least 50 feet long with, what looked like, fangs the size of Cloud.

"GO!!" Cloud shouted and Squall and Selphie quickly obeyed. They sped up their vehicles until the were going almost 100 miles per hour. Squall took a quick glance behind him. Cloud and Tifa were falling behind.

The next thing he saw was green fog surrounding Cloud and Tifa before it was fired at the giant snake. Cloud had used the same spell on Squall but this time, Cloud had obviously put a LOT MORE power behind it. The snake collapsed, very dead, before Cloud sped up.

They reached the cave a few minutes later, with Squall and his friends stunned.

"What the HELL was that thing!" Zell shouted from the jeep window. No one had gotten out of the jeep.

Cloud turned off his motorbike and started getting his breathe back. Casting Ultima spells drained his energy quickly, especially one that powerful.

"It was a Midgar Zolom. They're quite easy to kill, that's if you're crossing the marsh on foot. And if you know how to beat it. That one was extremely powerful."

"How did you know?" Rinoa asked.

"Sense materia." Squall answered, surprising everyone but Cloud, Tifa and Barret.

Cloud started up his motorbike and rode it towards the exit. The others quickly followed. In about 15 minutes they had reached the exit. Squall gasped as he looked around him. He could see a large fort to the south and high mountains to the north, but there was no sign of a city. Cloud started heading north-west and the others followed. It took them another half hour to reach a small cliff.

"Where do we go now?" Selphie asked out the jeep window.

Cloud looked back but didn't answer. Instead, he headed to the opposite side of the cliff. Again, Squall and his friends all gasped. It was a large city, though not big enough to be seen behind the cliff. They headed to the lower level of the city, where everything was dark. Squall looked at the ocean. It looked polluted, there were no fish and an electric tower came out of the water and reached up to the city above.

Still riding the bikes, and driving the jeep, everyone headed to the elevator. There were two elevators. One for vehicles, the other obviously for people. The ascended to the upper level in the vehicle lift. Once they exited the elevator, they came to the streets of Junon. Cloud suddenly remembered the first time he had come here. President Shinra had been killed a week previous and his son, Rufus had been appointed new President. Cloud had taken part in the welcoming ceremony so that he wouldn't be discovered. He had finally managed to sneak onto the cargo ship and head to Costa Del Sol. They drove down the quiet streets until they came to the dock.

Everyone gaped in awe.

The ship docked there was a cruiser, approximately 80 feet in length and it shone bright white. They stared at it before they were snapped out of it by the sailsman shouting,

"All passengers heading to Costa Del Sol, resort town extravaganza, step on board. The ship will be leaving in exactly 15 minutes."

A/N: There you have it. One whole chapter in one night. Sorry if its crap, but I am running out of ideas after all. R & R and PLEEEAAASSE check out my profile. New news has been added. :D


	10. Crossing The Seas To Fun

A/N: Thanks to my reviewers cloudude55 and Mako-Magic. I kinda need help; I'm running out of ideas for later chapters. If you have any suggestions, send me them. For my email check my profile or chapter 1 of my fic. I now how the stories going to end though.

Summary – The gang had set of to Junon. Using two motorbikes and a jeep they crossed the Midgar Marsh, not before encountering a Midgar Zolom. Cloud used his magic skills to defeat it easily and they once again headed off to Junon. Upon reaching Junon dock, they saw they cruise ship they would be travelling on. 

Chapter 10 – Crossing The Seas To Fun

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It had been just over an hour since they ship had set sail. The sky was clear blue, with no clouds in sight. They couldn't ask for a better day. It was also the first day that Squall had been able to relax properly. He had gone down into the ships cargo hold to practice his magic. He had now mastered the use of Bolt, Ice, Fire and was now working on Cure. He headed to a spare cabin with Rinoa afterwards. She had come down to watch then dashed up to Cloud, practically begging him to teach her. She was in a very cheerful mood when Squall next saw her. Cloud had obviously said yes.

In their room, Squall was lying on the bed, his legs crossed and his hands behind his head. He stared at the ceiling thinking.

Was this really the time to be having fun? They were 1,000 years back in time, and they didn't know if they'd ever get back. Maybe they should enjoy they're time here while they can, in case they do find a way back. That was it. They shouldn't worry about it. They had a chance to find out what life used to be like. Even though he was slightly homesick, Squall wanted to stay here as long as possible. Was that a bad thing?

Squall sighed. He had enough on his mind besides worrying about getting home. Using materia was quickly tiring him out, and it was slowly getting harder each time he used stronger magic. And Cloud's secrecy. What was he hiding? There were things unusual about him. His glowing eyes, his superior strength and speed, and how he could tell when people were nearby or listening to his conversations. He was different in some way, Squall knew that. But what? What could possibly make him different? Tifa and Barret knew. Tifa was closest to Cloud; she must know everything about him. Was she afraid to tell anyone, in case Cloud hurt her? Cloud didn't seem the type to hurt his best friend. But Squall hardly knew him. He didn't even like him much. Cloud always managed to irritate him somehow. But how?

Squall was so deep in thought that he didn't notice Rinoa coming into the room and sitting beside him. He looked up at her surprised.

"You're thinking to hard again." She told him.

"I know. I'm just getting worried." He answered.

"Well…don't. This is a cruise; you're supposed to enjoy yourself."

"And how will I do that?"

"Well..." she said kissing him, "I can think of one way." She smiled and kissed him again, removing his shirt in the process. He rolled her over so he was on top and got down to business.

* * * * *

On deck, Irvine sat on a deck chair, his hat over his face to stop the sun burning it. Selphie was lying beside him cuddling into him. Zell had decided to hit the arcade that was onboard. Quistis lounged on a deck chair, with a book in hand. Barret had Marlene on his shoulder and was pointing down at the water, where some dolphins were swimming alongside the ship. Marlene squealed in happiness each time one jumped up out the water. Angelo was happily chasing a mouse around the deck. Cloud and Tifa were at the opposite side of the ship to everyone else, watching their Leviathan summons swim in the water. Having MASTERED Cloud's Leviathan materia, it split into its original form, where it was in its weakest state. Both Cloud and Tifa's materia's had been MASTERED to produce a third. That one had been given to Yuffie.

"Cloud? Do you think that you should have told Squall about your Mako and J-E-N-O-V-A cells?" Tifa asked uncertainly.

Cloud didn't answer straight away. He sighed and stood back from the railing.

"They don't need to know. If any of them ask about my eyes, you can tell them. But I don't want any of them to know about the cells inside of me. Or about Sephiroth. Unless you have an important reason to tell them."

"But why are we keeping it from them? Do you think they'll turn on us?"

"That's exactly what I think. If they find out about J-E-N-O-V-A and Sephiroth, they'll find out that I was used as a clone. They'll probably think I'm dangerous."

"But you're not. We'll back you up. We'll say that the experiment was a failure, that you're not a clone."

"How will you reason with them, once they found out it was me, who help Sephiroth summon Meteor."

Tifa nodded in defeat. Cloud was right. They couldn't find out about that. They'd see Cloud as a threat.

"You could reason with them forever, Tifa." He continued, "But Squall won't let his friends be around anyone that could hurt them. Especially if it was me. I've beaten Squall before, which means that he wouldn't be able to protect them without help. He's only protecting those he cares about. I'd do the same if I were in his position. Especially if you were in danger."

Tifa looked straight into his eyes when he said that. His eyes had always captured her whenever she looked into them. They were filled with warmth and happiness. They always showed how he felt. Tifa could look in his eyes and could tell if he were upset or worried. She was sure he could do the same with her. They were so close they could almost read each others thoughts.

She walked up to him and wrapped her arms around his neck, placing her head on his chest. It wasn't difficult, with him being so small. Taken aback by her actions, Cloud hesitantly put his arms around her, holding her close.

"You'll always protect me Cloud, won't you? Just like you promised."

"Always. No matter what, I'll always be there for you when you need me. I've kept my promise so far, haven't I?"

"Yeah, you have. I don't think I can repay you for saving me the amount of times you have."

"You've already repaid me Tifa."

Tifa looked up at him in confusion. They were still in each others arms, and their faces were inches apart.

"What do you mean? When?" she asked.

"Remember when I had Mako poisoning, and I was in a coma?" She nodded, "It was you who brought me back Tifa. If you hadn't been there, I know I wouldn't have woken up. And in the Lifestream, you helped me find out who I really was. If it wasn't for you, I would have stayed the way I was. A failed clone and Sephiroth's puppet. I'm here now because of you Tifa."

Tifa smiled and placed her head on Cloud's chest once again and shut her eyes.

"Maybe you're right." She said.

"I know I am." He said back, his cheek resting against the top of her head with his eyes closed, his left hand stroking her long brown hair.

Around the corner Barret saw them both in each others arms. He grinned.

* * * * *

Several hours, and hotdogs for Zell, later. The ship docked at Costa Del Sol. Squall could feel the heat radiate off the sun as soon as he stepped off the cruiser. He lifted his arm to cover his eyes. The heat here was almost unbearable. You could probably get a tan here in about two days, if you didn't get burnt to a crisp first. Cloud, Tifa and Barret stepped off the ship but weren't bothered by the extreme heat and light. They had been here plenty of times before and had gotten perfectly used to the heat. They once again got on their vehicles and drove out of Costa Del Sol.

"Where do we go now, Cloud?" Squall asked him.

"It's an hour's ride to North Corel. There used to be a train that ran through the mountains, but the track was destroyed so we'll need to take the road through."

They set off through the mountains. The area used t be infested with monsters but they quickly disappeared when the reactor was destroyed. They quickly rode through without any disruptions. Tifa was sleeping peacefully, her head on Cloud's back, while he rode the bike. 

In the jeep Zell, Quistis and Marlene had fallen asleep. Zell's head was facing the ceiling and his mouth was open. It was a comical scene. Irvine had to shove his fist in his mouth to stifle his laughter. Quistis's head was against her chest and Marlene was snoozing on her dad's knee. Angelo was on the floor, playing with a shell she had found at Costa Beach.

As Cloud had said, it took them just under an hour to reach North Corel. After Barret became the mayor of the town, it quickly got back on its feet. There were lots of proper houses, some still being built but they had made a lot of progress after only a year. They parked the bikes and jeep at the car park. They each climbed off or out of the vehicles and headed towards the tram. Cloud, not wanting to wake Tifa, lifted her onto his back and carried her onto the tram. It reminded Squall of when he had carried Rinoa over the Horizon Bridge, towards Esthar. Marlene was still sleeping in Barrett's arms as the tram doors closed and they started moving.

Squall looked around at everyone. Rinoa rested her head against his shoulder and closed her eyes. Almost everyone had decided to go to sleep, seeing as how the tram took half an hour to get to Gold Saucer. Both Marlene and Barret fell asleep. Angelo was lying quietly on the floor. Quistis and Zell slept with their heads on their chests. Selphie and Irvine were looking out the window. They had slept on the cruise and were perfectly awake. Cloud was looking outside as well. Squall was surprised. Cloud hadn't had any sleep since they left Kalm. He had also gotten up earlier than everyone else. But he looked fine. Tifa, who hadn't woken, had her head against his shoulder. Squall knew they were close, but he was sure that they felt something for one another. Why would they hide it from each other? Squall wasn't sure. He had only ever shown his feelings to Rinoa and his friends, but it had taken him a long time to do so. He hid his feelings because he was afraid to get hurt. Maybe Cloud and Tifa were each afraid of being rejected by the other. Squall thought that it was obvious that they loved each other. Maybe there was a reason that they hid their feelings from one another. What it was he didn't know, and it wasn't really his business.

After half an hour, the tram abruptly stopped. Everyone jerked awake and walked out of the tram.

Squall and the others gasped at the sight.

The lights around them shone over 100 different colours. Everything was bright. There were large Mog's bouncing around and carnival-like music was playing. They each peered over the railing at the edge of the plate. They could barely see the desert below them. They must have been around 1000 feet off the ground. All of them looked round at Cloud, Tifa, Barret and Marlene.

Cloud smiled.

"Ready to have some fun?"

A/N: Yeah!! I got that chapter out of the way. Sorry if I kept blabbering on but I can't help it. Anyway, please R&R and send your suggestions, please!


	11. A Good Time Up High

A/N: Hey, hey. If you're wondering about the story, I'm letting Squall and his friends meet all of AVALANCHE before the plot will really start to thicken. And I mean really. Ta for your reviews, though I haven't been able to read them. L :-(  Here's chapter 11. WARNING: Biggest chapter so far and some very slight CloTi. Mostly centred round Cloud and Tifa.

Summary – Cloud and Tifa discuss Cloud's secret on the ship and everyone else relaxes. They've drove to North Corel and are now up at the ever wonderful Gold Saucer.

Chapter 11 – A Good Time Up High

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"Wow! This is Super-Duper COOL!" Selphie squealed as they entered the main hallway. There were seven chutes, each heading to different places. The all headed to either the Wonder Square, Chocobo Square, Battle Square, Event Square, Ghost Square, Round Square and Speed Square. There were so many to choose from that no one knew where they would go first tonight.

"Let's go to the Ghost Hotel. We can stay there until tonight." Cloud told them. Everyone nodded and they slid down the Ghost Square chute one at a time. Even Angelo made it down. When the last person, Zell, had landed on the ground everyone looked up at the hotel. It was shaped like a castle, and the background's special effects made lightning strike in the sky. It was quite creepy.

"Whoa, this is freaky." Rinoa said quietly. Squall couldn't help but laugh at her. She scowled at him and kicked him in the shin. He clutched his shin in pain, while she stomped up the stairs. Cloud laughed as he past Squall and headed up to the hotel. Everyone else quickly followed, Squall limping slightly. They opened the doors, which creaked loudly. Cloud went up to the counter and asked for rooms.

He turned round. "Okay, how many rooms will I get? One each?"

"Well," Rinoa started, "Me and Squall can share a room. Selphie and Irvine can have one. Zell and Quistis can have one each. Barret and Marlene will have one, and you and Tifa can have one each. So that's seven rooms."

"I'm sorry," the receptionist said, "There are only six rooms available. Another pair will have to share."

"How about Cloud and Tifa?" Squall suggested. Tifa blushed slightly and Cloud looked at the floor. Selphie and Irvine smiled at each other. They knew Cloud and Tifa were embarrassed. After a brief moment Cloud spoke.

"Well? What do you think?" he asked Tifa.

"Okay." She answered. She turned round to the receptionist. "We'll take the six."

"Yes ma'am." She said. "Here are the keys." She held them out and Cloud handed them out. It wasn't long before everyone was in their rooms.

* * * * *

Rinoa and Squall lay cuddled up on their bed. They hadn't gotten much sleep, apart from on the cruise. Zell and Quistis were also in their rooms snoozing. Marlene was awake, and was playing with Angelo. Rinoa had let Angelo stay in their room. Selphie and Irvine went to get something to eat. Tifa was in the room with Cloud, practicing her martial arts. Cloud slept peacefully on the bed.

'He must be exhausted,' Tifa thought. She was right. He had gotten up earlier than everyone else, drove the motorbike all the way to Junon, and to North Corel. He had stayed up during the cruise and let his Leviathan get some exercise. Tifa wasn't sure if he would even get up for the promotion tonight. She smiled at him as he slept. He looked like a child. He didn't snore and Tifa was thankful for that. Barret's snoring could be heard from two rooms away. Cloud hadn't changed much, look-wise, since he left for SOLDIER.

The glow in his eyes were different, he was a lot stronger and smarter than he had been. And his personality had changed. He used to be the child who would sit alone. He was always bullied because of his size, name and hair. Tifa had had a crush on Cloud since he left for SOLDIER but was too afraid to tell him. She was afraid that he would reject her, or say that he loved Aeris.

Tifa missed Aeris dearly but was jealous of her. She had always been able to make Cloud smile, even if he was miserable. All of AVALANCHE wished that she hadn't died. But they each knew that, if she hadn't sacrificed herself, they wouldn't have been able to stop Meteor. But that didn't stop Cloud blaming himself for her death. Tifa sighed and went to the window.

She watched the lightning for a while. She always thought lightning was beautiful, strange as it may seem. She heard Cloud stir behind her and looked round. He slowly opened his eyes and noticed Tifa looking at him.

"What?" he asked, tiredly.

"Nothing, I'm just surprised you woke up."

"Yeah I know." He yawned, "I'm exhausted. Why aren't you trying to get some sleep?"

"I just can't get to sleep. If there's one thing I hate about this hotel, it's the fact that I have to be totally exhausted or drunk to get to sleep."

Cloud laughed quietly and stared up at the ceiling.

"I don't think I've ever seen you drunk before." He said.

"No, you haven't. It takes a lot to get a drunk. I'm sure you're the same."

Cloud nodded. Thanks to the Mako in his body, it took around four pints just to get him slightly tipsy. Tifa shivered and rubbed her arms. The room was freezing. Cloud could feel it as well. He looked at Tifa and patted the side of the bed he was lying on. Hesitantly, Tifa walked over to him.

She lay down beside him and curled him against him. He was so warm; she couldn't help but want to lie here forever. She put her arm over his stomach and her head on his chest. Cloud wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer, keeping them both warm.

It wasn't long before they both fell asleep.

* * * * *

"Ohhh, YEEEAAHHH!!!! Time to P-A-R-T-Y." Zell shouted at the top of his lungs.

They were back at the main directory. Squall couldn't wait to look around.

"Look, this map tells you where everything is and what's there." Rinoa told them.

Apart from Cloud, Tifa, Barret and Marlene, they all walked up to the map. The others were discussing where to go first.

"I'm heading off to the Battle Square," Cloud said, "I want to see if they have any new challenges. I might even take part."

"Well, me, Barret and Marlene are going to the wonder Square. Marlene wants to try the Mog House game." Tifa explained.

"I'll see you later then." Cloud said, waving goodbye then sliding down the chute to the Battle Square.

"Come on, Auntie Tifa!" Marlene squealed. "I want to go now!"

"Okay let's go!" Tifa said back, excitedly. She stopped at the chute. "Will you guys be alright?" She asked Squall and the others.

"Yeah, we'll be fine." Irvine replied. And with that Tifa slid down the chute.

* * * * *

The group went their separate ways. Zell and Quistis went to see the Chocobo Square races, Selphie and Irvine went to the Speed Square, and Squall and Rinoa went to the Battle Square shortly after Cloud.

Squall had his arm draped around Rinoa shoulder as they headed up to the stadium. The room was filled with about a dozen competitors waiting there turn. They both went upstairs to the spectator's box. The ox was half full. Obviously, the next fighter was going to be good. Squall leaned over the banister. The arena was very large. It filled almost the whole floor. A small gap separated the floor from the wall, and inside was a strange purple liquid. He heard the door on the opposite side of the arena open. The next competitor walked out.

It was…

"Cloud!" Rinoa exclaimed. Squall was surprised as well. The crowd around them cheered. Cloud was obviously very popular. He stood calmly in the middle of the arena looking…bored.

"They better half some good competition this year." He muttered. Squall's clenched his fists. Cloud's attitude just infuriated him. Rinoa put a hand on his shoulder and he calmed down. A bell rang and the door on Squall's side of the room opened.

"Holy Shit!!" Squall shouted out loud. It was an Iron Giant. It looked almost identical to the one in his time, only BIGGER. It carried its usual giant sword, twice as big as Cloud's. Its bulky arms provided it with a lot of power behind its swing but it was very slow. Its heavy armour was thing and almost impenetrable. It towered over Cloud, who tilted his head to the side in a mocking sort of way. The Iron Giant raised its sword above its head and shifted its weight.

Cloud had time to roll his eyes and mumbled, "Typical!" before the sword was brought down, aiming for where he was standing. With cat-like reflexes, he jumped out of the way and grabbed onto the monster's right arm as it raised its sword off the ground. He held on tight and blasted a strong Bolt spell at its left side. The Iron Giant tilted its body to the left, wincing in pain. But as it leaned over, the armour on the right side was raised up, exposing its flesh. Cloud smiled before driving his Ultima Weapon through its flesh. It screamed in pain before it collapsed to the ground, dead.

Squall was speechless. Cloud had taken down it so easily. Rinoa was shocked as well. They watched in amazement as Cloud defeated an Allemagne, a large bat-like creature, a Maximum Kimaira, a three headed monster that looked like a Chimera, a Stilva, a very large cross between a spider and a scorpion, and, to Squall's amazement, a Malboro. Cloud readied for his final battle, poisoned, slowed, darknessed, silenced, and so low on energy that his sword was dark blue. He had a dozen cuts all over his body and some blood was dripping on the floor, mixed with sweat. His 'Haste' and 'Regen(erate)' spells had worn off and the poison was taking its toll, but slowly.

Squall and Rinoa watched with anticipation, before they heard lots of feet run up behind them. Everyone else had come down.

"Where's Cloud?" she asked panicking. 

Squall nodded down at the arena and Tifa ran over to the banister. She saw Cloud and wanted to scream.

"Don't worry Tif. He's a tough cookie, he'll be fine." Barret comforted her.

"You can say that again!" Squall said sarcastically. The others looked at him confused. "He's already beaten an Iron Giant, an Allemagne, a Maximum Kimaira, a Stilva and a Malboro, on his own. He still has one fight left."

Everyone looked shocked. They all looked down at the arena eagerly. 

"Question!" Quistis stated, "Why is Cloud's sword blue, I thought it was white."

"It usually is, but the weaker he gets the sword goes blue. The darker the sword is, the weaker Cloud is. It's good, it lets his comrades know that he needs to be healed." Tifa explained. Quistis nodded and looked back at the arena.

The door opened again and out stepped…a KING BEHEMOTH.

"Oh no!" Tifa whispered frantically. The Behemoth rammed into Cloud, with its large head, not giving him a chance to make the first move. He slammed into the wall and bounced enough, to be able to grab the edge of the arena. With some trouble, he climbed up and his anger raged through him. The rage turned to hatred and a great surge of energy flowed through his body. His sword shone a bright white as it filled with energy. Cloud ran forward and slashed at the Behemoth again and again and again and again. After over a dozen slices, the Behemoth collapsed on the floor, VERY DEAD. Cloud sighed and limped out of the arena. The whole crowd cheered except Cloud's friends. Instead they went down to the arena entrance and waited for Cloud to come out. He limped out, his head down. He held his sword loosely and his clothes were ripped. His shirt was almost completely torn off and cuts, scrapes and bruises covered his body. Tifa rushed forward and caught him in her arms as he collapsed.

"Hurry!" she yelled as she lowered him to the floor, "Get me a Remedy."

One of the medical staff rushed over to her and pulled out a small flask, containing a green liquid. She helped Cloud swallow it and pulled out another flask. Squall recognised it as an Elixer. They weren't rare but they were hard to find. Cloud coughed and almost choked as he felt his energy return to him. His cuts healed slightly but some still bled slightly.

"He should be fine. Take him to his room, clean him up and let him rest. He needs some sleep. It's been a rough night for him." With that the medical staff left and went to check on other injured fighters.

"Hey, Tifa?" Selphie asked. "You want us to help you get Cloud to the hotel." Tifa shook her head.

"I'll be fine. You guys go and enjoy yourselfs, don't waste tonight helping me. Besides, Barret's helping."

So they set off, with some guilt but they wanted to enjoy the night. So they did.

* * * * *

Tifa removed the cold cloth from Cloud's head as he slept. She finished washing up the blood from his face and torso. She secretly enjoyed it. She always thought Cloud had a nice body and she was right. He was very muscular thanks to his constant training. She placed her hand on his hairless chest and ran her hand down to his stomach, feeling his abdomen muscles. She felt his hand wrap around her wrist and heard him laugh softly.

"Don't. It tickles." He said wearily. Tifa giggled slightly and caressed his cheek. He opened his eyes and smiled. "Hey Teef."

"Hey, don't scare me like that. I thought you were seriously injured."

He raised an eyebrow. "I wasn't?" he asked jokingly.

"Oh ha, ha. Watch what you're doing next time."

"Okay Mother." He said sarcastically, earning himself a light smack on the face. "Did it work?"

"What?" Tifa asked confused.

"My OmniSlash limit." He said closing his eyes.

"Yeah, killed it in one shot."

He nodded. "Good," he yawned and fell asleep shortly after.

Tifa looked at him and realised that he was asleep. She quietly walked up to him and put the covers over him. She sat on the bed, next to him, and lightly stroked his cheek. He shifted slightly but didn't wake. Tifa made sure that he was properly asleep before kissing him on the forehead and going to her bed. She pulled the covers over her and, with one last look at Cloud, turned the light off and fell asleep.

A/N: Again, sorry for being late with this chapter but it's my biggest yet. Just under seven pages with Microsoft Word. Anyway, please e-mail me with a review then review on the site. I can't read the reviews there just yet so email me them please. See you're making me repeat myself. Chapter 12 will be here sometime this week. Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Its one of my favourites 'cause I love Cloud and Tifa chapters.


	12. Mogs And Cats Up Highwind

A/N: Well, no reviews yet. But the Login area had been disabled so I understand. Chapter 12 is just a lot of random stuff I thought up, nothing of real importance. Two new characters are introduced and a new airship. Title is a dead give away.

Summary – Arriving at Gold Saucer the group get some R and R before the promotion. Everyone goes to enjoy themselves, but Cloud got more 'Excitement' than he bargained for. And the outcome wasn't pretty.

Chapter 12 – Mogs and Cats Up Highwind

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Cloud woke up late the next morning. He tried to sit up but his ribs felt like they were going to crack. He felt a bit dizzy and his vision was foggy. He then remembered what happened the night before.

'No wonder I'm in such a bad state!' he thought to himself.

He laid his head back on his pillow and closed his eyes. He almost fell asleep again until he heard his door open. It was Tifa.

"Hey Tifa." He said.

"Hey Cloud, you're looking better." She commented.

"Try telling that to my ribs." Tifa laughed slightly and looked at him with concerned eyes.

"I'm surprised you got better this quickly. You took a real beating last night. I was worried sick."

She sat down next to him and helped him sit up. He groaned slightly as a sharp pain went through his body. He rested his head against the headboard and closed his eyes. Tifa's eyes drifted down to his chest. The cuts he had received were almost totally healed, but some would leave light scars. Tifa realised that he still had his trousers on, even though they were almost totally ripped off.

"Why don't you get changed? Your clothes are in ruins."

"Yeah I guess your right." He went to stand up but Tifa stopped him. She had her hand on his shoulder as he looked at her confusedly. She simply held up her hand, in which she was holding an Elixir.

"You need to drink this first." She handed him the small bottle, "And they brought you some new clothes. They're on the floor next to you."

"Thanks Tif. I owe you one." He said to her. She smiled and headed out of the room. Cloud quickly downed the Elixir and instantly felt his strength return. He got out of his bed, put on his clothes and went outside.

* * * * *

Squall walked down to the Wonder Square. The place was quiet, except for the music and bright lights. The few people that were there looked at Squall strangely, having not seen anyone like him before. But Squall was ignoring them. He was thinking again.

A lot of things had been happening, and some were more shocking than others. Being pulled back in time, meeting AVALANCHE, learning how to use materia; and most of all, Cloud. Squall frowned slightly. Cloud has shown amazing strength the night before. He had taken on some of the biggest monsters Squall had ever seen. Most of the time, he got only slightly hurt. In the end, it seemed like he was nearly beaten to death.

'How can anyone be so powerful?' Squall thought. 'Some of the things about seem so unnatural, its king of freaky.'

He was pulled from his train of thought when he heard Rinoa call on him.

"Squall!" She shouted, running down the stairs, "Have you seen the others?"

Squall shook his head and she sighed.

"What's up?" He asked.

"I just have to find them and tell them that we should be leaving in about 2 hours. On of Cloud's friends will be coming to pick us up."

"Well what do you want to do?"

Rinoa smiled and walked up to Squall, wrapping her arms around his waist.

"Well, I was thinking about spending some time with you. If that's alright with you."

"Now…" he said leaning down, "What kind of a stupid question is that?" He captured her lips with his and kissed her passionately. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer. They didn't realise that someone was watching them.

They heard the sound of someone clearing their throat. They broke their kiss and looked to where the sound had come from. There stood a foot tall black cat, on top of a 3 foot Mog. The cat held a small microphone in his hand and wore a crown on its head. Rinoa and Squall looked at it, totally bewildered. They all looked at each other before it finally spoke.

"Sorry to interrupt but would you like your fortunes told?" it said.

"Um…okay." Rinoa said hesitantly.

They stared in amazement as the Mog started dancing and bouncing. After a moment it stopped and handed them a piece of paper.

It read…

YOUR ENEMY IS CLOSER THAN YOU THINK. BE CAUTIOUS.

"Hey, what does it say?" Rinoa asked eagerly. Squall handed it to her.

"Your enemy may be closer than you think?" She read out. "What do you think it means?" she asked him. He shrugged and took the paper back. He couldn't help but feel like there was some truth behind it.

"Well?" The cat asked. "You think it's good?"

Squall was about to answer, when he got interrupted by someone behind him.

"Still trying to read people's fortunes, huh?"

Squall and Rinoa turned round just in time to see Cloud jump down the stairs. He landed just behind them and walked forward to the cat and Mog. He smiled at them.

"Long time no see Cloud." It said.

He nodded and turned to Squall and Rinoa.

"Guys, this is Cait Sith. He's a member of AVALANCHE." He told them. As he did so, Cait bowed.

"Cait Sith at your service." Rinoa smiled and walked forward and clapped him on the head. 

"Is he real?" Rinoa asked Cloud.

"No. He's controlled by a human." He answered.

"Not exactly Cloud."

Cloud swung round and saw Reeve, Tifa and Marlene walking down the stairs.

"Hey Reeve." Cloud greeted happily. He then turned back round to Squall and Rinoa. "This is Reeve. He created Cait." He paused before he asked Reeve something. "Did you modify him so he has free will?"

"Yes, I did. He can now act on his own but he'll never do anything that could be dangerous without consulting me first."

"That's pretty cool." Squall said, speaking for the first time in a while. "Cloud, when are we getting picked up?"

"Oh yeah. That's what I was coming to tell you. Cid should be here in 10 minutes. We need to find the others and tell them to go to the airport."

"No problem." Squall said simply, showing him his cell phone. He called Selphie and put the phone to his ear. "Yeah, Selph? It's Squall. Yeah, meet us at the airport A.S.A.P. Alright, later." He nodded to tell them that he was finished and they headed to the airport.

* * * * *

Everyone was in the airport 5 minutes later. They each sat waiting for Cid to come. Squall sat on a bench with his arm draped around Rinoa, while she laid her head on his shoulder. Marlene and Cait Sith were on the floor playing with Angelo. Barret and Reeve talking and watching them play. Zell was practicing his martial arts with Tifa watching, being a martial artist herself. Irvine was cleaning his gun with Selphie's head on his lap, while she lay down sleeping. Quistis was sitting on the floor snoozing and Cloud was leaning against the wall. He had his back on the wall, his head down and his eyes closed. To Squall, he looked like he was meditating.

"Man…" Zell said impatiently, "When is our ride gonna get here?"

Cloud's eyes snapped open and he stood up.

"He's here now." Everyone suddenly heard the low grumble of an engine, slowly getting louder. Suddenly, a huge airship came into their view. It looked like a cross between a blimp and a plane. It was painted blue and had a bikini woman painted on the side. Cloud stepped forward to the edge and waved at the ship. He stepped to the side, to allow the ship to land. It didn't exactly land, but it hovered a few feet of the ground. One of the slabs on the wall of the plane opened, revealing an entrance. The slab hit the floor with a loud clunk. A middle-aged man stood at the top. He looked just taller than Squall. He had spiked up blond hair and goggles on his head. He wore a bomber man uniform with a spear strapped on his back. There was a cigarette hanging loosely at the corner of his mouth, and he looked pissed.

"WELL!" he shouted, "You fuckin' gettin' on or whit!?"

Cloud, Tifa, Barret and Reeve exchanged smiles before following him in. The others came in last.

Everyone was stunned. There were over a dozen seats around the deck and a huge control panel. There were parachutes on the walls and there were small doors leading to gun cockpits.

"Well?" Cid said, "What do ye think? She's a cracker ain't she? Ah've called it the Sentinel."

"Wow Cid, you've really put a lot of work into this one." Cloud complimented him, "A lot of new things as well. I thought it would be the same as the Highwind, 'cause you really liked that ship."

Cid lowered his head, remembering his old ship. It had been almost totally destroyed after Holy and the Lifestream had beaten Meteor.

"Aye, but ah decided tae make it the same but a lot better. Ah've pit in original gun pits and other weapons. It's a lot better." Cid finally noticed Squall and the others looking around. "Yo, wha's the new kids?"

At that they all looked round. Squall scowled slightly, he hated being called a kid. Cloud saw this and decided to break the silence.

"This is Cid Highwind, guys. He's the best pilot in the world." Cid grinned at this. But he was the best pilot in the world. He had piloted the Highwind, a spaceship, a submarine. Hell, he could pilot anything. "Cid, this is Selphie, Irvine, Zell, Quistis, Rinoa and Squall." Cloud continued, pointing to each of them in turn. Cid nodded.

"It's gonna tak me a while tae remember yer names, ah ain't got as gid a memory as ah yist tae." He headed to the pilots seat and sat down. "A'right numbskulls, buckle yersel's up."

They each did what they were told. Selphie sat near the front, wanting to see how the Sentinel was driven. As soon as Cid heard the last belt buckled up, he turned on the engines and flew off. They were up in the air for a few minutes before anyone took their belts off. Cloud was the first to undo his. Tifa was next and she quickly walked over to him.

"Cloud, are you going to be okay?" she asked him. She was concerned about his motion sickness.

"I'll be fine Tif. Besides, I've rode on Cid's ship before and I've never been sick. I was close once though. That was after I had finished talking to Yuffie."

Tifa laughed. Yuffie had an even worse case of motion sickness than Cloud. Whenever she got on the Highwind, she'd be at the top deck, spewing every five minutes.

"Hey Tif. You want to let our summons stretch their wings?" Cloud asked her.

"Yeah, okay." She said, "Wait. Squall!" she shouted. He turned round to show she had gotten his attention. "You want to let some of your GF's get some exercise?"

"Yeah sure, I'll be up in a minute."

Tifa nodded and followed Cloud up to the air deck. They both concentrated on their materia and called forth their summons.

* * * * *

Squall and Zell went up to the air deck, junctioned with Quetzacotl and Bahamut. As they reached the deck, they saw only Tifa. Cloud had disappeared.

"Yo Tifa?" Zell asked, "Where's Cloud?"

She turned round and smiled. "He'll be back in a minute. Go ahead and release your GF's."

They both nodded and called forth their Guardian Forces. Two holes appeared in between the clouds. Two flying monsters burst through. First was Bahamut, surrounded by a blinding white light. Quetzacotl came through in a shower of lightning. Its large bird like form and slick body, occasionally sparking, made it quite a sight.

Tifa gasped. She had never seen a Quetzacotl before and was fascinated by it. She stood watching it before her attention was caught by a loud screech. She turned round to see her Bahamut playing with Zell's. They all laughed as the Bahamuts tried to bite and claw at each other. Squall was just relieved that they weren't using their Mega Flares. They suddenly heard an even louder screech. They each had to cover their ears. Quetzacotl cried out and shot up, as if running away. Next second a huge dragon, twice as big as Bahamut, came into view. Cloud was riding on the back, while it's 2 pairs of wings flapping in unison.

Squall couldn't believe what he was seeing. The dragon was huge. It looked almost as big as the Ragnarok. The dragon moved closer to the ship and Cloud jumped off. He landed safely on the deck while the dragon flew up higher.

"What the hell is that?" Squall asked.

Cloud looked at him calmly before he spoke. "It's a summon called Neo Bahamut. Let's just say it's Bahamuts big brother."

Squall stood speechless as Cloud and Tifa headed back downstairs. He didn't know much about Bahamuts big brothers but he did know one thing.

It was going to take some time to get used to this place.

A/N: This chapter was a day late and I'm sorry. Slap me. *SMACK* Owww. I said I was sorry. Anyway, chapter 13 might take a while cause I've kinda ran out of ideas. Please send me some, I'm begging you!!!!!! Oh and R&R. Please put ideas in!!!! *SOB* I'm running low.


	13. Ninja Warning And Vampire Attack

A/N: Hey guys. This chapter took a lot of thinking and getting angry and that sorta thing. Anyway, hope you enjoy.

Summary – The gang is picked up by Cid Highwind in the Sentinel. They met a robot called Cait Sith and his creator Reeve in Gold Saucer. Squall is introduced to Bahamuts 'Big Brother.' The gang are now heading to Rocket Town.

Chapter 13 – Ninja Warning and Vampire Attack

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The Sentinel landed near a small town called Rocket Town. Barret was the first to disembark, with Marlene on his shoulders and Angelo walking beside him. Squall and his friends came out next, while everyone else took up the rear. Squall say Cloud mutter something to Cid, who nodded and started walking towards the town. Everyone but Squall, Rinoa, Cloud and Tifa, followed him.

"I'm going to the forest to practice my materia skills." Squall told Rinoa.

"Okay. How long will you be gone?"

"I don't know, but I'll get back as soon as I can, okay?" he said stroking her cheek.

"Deal." She kissed his cheek and they walked away.

Cloud and Tifa had watched them

"Cloud, don't you think you should go with him?" she asked.

Cloud looked at her confusedly.

"Why?"

"Well you never know what could attack him. It could be a Dark Dragon or…or Iron Giant. I mean they could probably beat you up pretty badly."

Cloud considered this.

"I guess you've got a point. But I shouldn't go; you know he doesn't trust me."

"How about sending Bahamut. He can come and warn you if Squall gets in trouble." She suggested.

"That's a good idea Tif." He turned around and whistled. Bahamut flew towards him and landed with a thud in front of him. It bent down so Cloud could talk to it.

"Listen carefully Bahamut. I want you to follow Squall, but he mustn't know you're there. If he's in danger, come and get me okay?"

Bahamut moved its head to say that it understood. It took flight and flew towards the forest.

* * * * *

Squall quietly walked over the Launch Pad area plains, heading towards a nearby forest. His gunblade was strapped at his hip and he had a Rune Armlet on his wrist. Four materia were contained in its slots. Lightning, Restore, Sense and a Time materia. He decided to get some practice. He had become good at using basic spells like Bolt and Cure, and had decided to start using stronger magic.

He chose Time materia because it seemed good to learn to 'Slow' or 'Stop' his opponents, or make himself faster with 'Haste.' Sense was good for finding out how strong his opponents were, their weakness and being able to tell if he could defeat them or not.

In what seemed, no time at all he reached the forest. He cautiously walked to an opening. He saw nothing but a large clump of bushes around him. He felt unsure, he had a feeling that he was in danger, somehow. 

He concentrated on his 'Sense' materia. It was his first time using it. He managed to detect a small amount of energy behind the bushes. Cautiously, he walked up to them.

Before he could even react, he was knocked off his feet by something tackling him. He landed on his back with a heavy object on top of him. His Lionheart gunblade landed on the ground about a foot beside him. It was a girl who had tackled him. She had a short, dark brown hair and wore a green top, with shorts. She had a shuriken on her back, and what looked like, a shield on her arm. She looked younger than he was, she was a ninja. She pinned him on the floor and dug her hands in his jacket pocket. Squall struggled to get her off him, but she had him firmly pinned to the ground. She was holding something in her hand when she brought it out his pocket, and a grin slowly crept across her face. She then got up off of him and darted off.

'What was that about?' Squall thought as he sat up. He dug his hand in his pocket and he realised his Gil pouch was missing.

"HEY!!" he shouted after the girl. He got up, grabbed his gunblade and ran after her. "That's my Gil."

She darted between the trees trying to lose him, but didn't do very well. She kept running until she came to a cave. She grinned and ran inside. Squall saw her and followed. He was engulfed by darkness as soon as he stepped into the cave. He could hear the girl's footsteps as he travelled deeper into the cave. He knew it would be hopeless to find her without any light so he focused on the magic inside his body. He lifted his gunblade and, using his Elemental Junction ability, he focused the magic into it. It started to go red then flames burst out around it. The flames gave off enough light for him to see the cave very clearly. He cautiously walked deeper into the cave.

He saw the ninja rush out of an opening to his left and she darted down the path. Squall hastily followed her. She stopped at a dead end and looked at him. Squall slowly walked up and held out his hand.

"Give me my Gil now!" he ordered.

This didn't phase the ninja in the slightest. She smiled cockily and raised her hand, which held Squall's Gil pouch.

"You mean this?" she asked sweetly. She looked back at Squall, who maintained his cool posture, "Come and get it then."

"Gladly," Squall snarled and he ran towards her. The ninja was taken aback and reached for her shuriken.

Squall raised his gunblade as he ran towards her. He slashed down, but she leapt to the side. He swung at her several more times but each time, she dodged out the way. Her agility would match that of Selphie's, who was particularly fiendish to hit. Squall swung at her again and she back flipped out of his range. Quick as lightning she took her shuriken of her back and threw it at Squall. Her attack came so suddenly, that he barely had time to block. The ring of his gunblade smacking the shuriken away echoed through the cave. The ninja's shuriken came back to her and she got ready to throw it again. But before either of them could attack, a high pitched screech rang through the cave. The noise pounded in Squall's head, making him drop his gunblade. He clamped his hands over his ears to block out the noise, but it still screeched in his head. He felt like his head was going to explode.

The screech stopped and he took his hands away. He suddenly felt something bash into him from behind. He was knocked clean off his feet and slammed against the wall. He slowly stood up, slightly dizzy and looked at what had attacked him. His mouth fell open.

The creature was tall and vampire-like. It looked similar to Diablos, one of Squall's GFs. Its large wings reached to both walls. It had huge claws, sharp fangs and blood red eyes. It had several long horns on the back of its head and they looked very lethal. Squall stood up and backed away a few paces. He then realised that he couldn't find his gunblade. He looked at the ninja, who had a victorious grin on her face. She stood behind the vampire-thing and in her hands was his gunblade. Squall looked back at the creature.

'What have I gotten myself into?'

* * * * *

Everyone, bar Squall, was in Cid's house. They were all sitting in a group, talking about the old days. Even the gang were joining in. They swapped short stories and Cid told a few of his dirty jokes.

Cloud and Tifa sat side by side, mostly listening. Tifa laid her head on Clouds shoulder while his arm was behind her. She didn't know why but she was very tired. It was also slightly cold this far north but she was warm next to Cloud. She just wanted to close her eyes and drift off to sleep, but they were only staying her for a while, so Cid could get supplies for the Sentinel.

She was barely listening to what the others were saying, she just wanted to relax. She looked up at Cloud, who was staring at the floor. He looked like he was daydreaming. But there was a slight frown on his face, like he was concentrating. His eyes suddenly went wide.

"Damn." He whispered.

"What is it?" she asked

He stood up quickly and went outside. Everyone watched him walk out, and Tifa followed him. She saw him at the other end of the street.

He stared in the direction of the forest as Tifa ran up beside him.

She put a hand on his shoulder.

"Cloud? What is it?" she asked worriedly

He didn't answer immediately. He had a worried look on his face.

"Squall's in danger. There's someone there with J-E-N-O-V-A cells in them. I can feel it."

Before Tifa could say anything, they heard a familiar cry. Bahamut landed in front of them and moaned. Squall was in trouble.

Cloud turned round to face Tifa.

"I've got to go help him. Who knows what's out there."

"I'm coming with you. You may need help."

Cloud didn't want Tifa to come. Not because she wasn't a good fighter, hell she would be a great help, but he didn't want her to get hurt. But when Tifa made her mind up about something, nothing was going to change it.

"Okay, but I want you to be careful."

She nodded in agreement and they both climbed onto Bahamut. Soon, they were heading to the forest.

* * * * *

The creature swiped at Squall but he ducked and ran behind it. He grabbed his gunblade from the ninja, who had been tampering with her materia. The creature lashed out and he did the same. The claw scratched Squall shoulder, while his blade pierced the creature's rib.

The creature screeched again, forcing Squall to cover his ears and become vulnerable. It grabbed his next and pressed him against the wall.

The creature tightened its grip around Squall's throat. He couldn't breathe, and his head was still pounding from the screech. He grabbed the creature's wrist, hoping to make it let go, but it tightened it grip even more. He could feel all the air gone from his lungs. He started to choke, desperate for oxygen. He felt himself almost slip into unconsciousness.

But it didn't happen. The creatures screamed in pain and let go of Squall. He collapsed to the floor, gasping. He could barely see in the dark, but he could make out two figures behind the monster. The male one was easy to recognise. His bright blue eyes were the only part Squall could see perfectly. The woman behind him, he could recognise as well. There was only one person with hair that long.

It was Cloud and Tifa.

The creature looked ready to attack when it whirled round to see the newcomers but stopped. The ninja slowly walked up to beside the creature. She spoke to Cloud and Tifa.

"Hey guys. Long time no see." She said

Before talking back Cloud changed on of the materia's in his sword, which caused it to become engulfed with flames, lighting up the cave.

"Hey Yuffie...Vincent."

Tifa ran over to Squall.

"Are you okay." She asked. He slowly nodded and tiredly stood up. "Looks like we got here just in time."

Meanwhile, Cloud was talking to his attackers.

"You can change now Vincent. Squall's not the enemy." He said to the creature.

The creature nodded and started to transform. The wings were absorbed into its back and its claws changed into human hands. The horns separated into strands of jet black hair and lay against its back. A long cape appeared where the wings were and one of its arms was replaced with a gold, metal one. The creature was human.

"It's good to see you again Cloud." He said in a mysterious voice. He turned to Tifa, "You too Tifa. It's been a long time."

"Yeah" the ninja, supposedly called Yuffie, said.

Cloud smiled slightly.

"Yuffie? I believe you have something of Squall's."

"Oh yeah." She moaned; sounding disappointed that Cloud had found out. She walked up to Squall and gave him his Gil. "Sorry about that."

Squall scowled. Obviously, AVALANCHE's favourite way of greeting people was by attacking them.

Their greetings were cut short by the loud engine roar of the Sentinel. Cloud turned to Squall.

"Let's go. We're going to Cosmo canyon, to meet the final member of AVALANCHE."

A/N: Sorry this chapter took sooooo long. I had a big writers block. They don't mix with homework. Next chapter will come out quicker though and after that, the plot will really start to thicken.


	14. Life Of The Planet

A/N: Hey guys. Done this in one night. Woohoo. If you are kinda new to FF7 and want to learn about the planet and the Cetra, read on. You may be able to skip this chapter, I dunno. R & R as usual please. Biggest chapter so far.

Info – New summary added to profile of upcoming fic. Oh and after this chapter the plot with deepen, trust me.

Summary – Vincent and Yuffie arrive on the scene and Squall gets a pleasant introduction of them. He's rescued by Cloud and Tifa. They're now heading to Cosmo Canyon

Chapter 14 – Life Of The Planet

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If you where anywhere near the mountains, you would have seen a large airship flying overhead. Accompanied by several large dragons and birds. The three dragons were flying in a group, one almost twice the size of the others. The birds flew next to each other. One was a bird of lightning; the other was a Phoenix, a bird of fire.

On the deck of the Sentinel was Squall. The wind swept through his brown hair and stung his eyes slightly. He was thinking, as usual.

He had now been attacked twice, both times by a member of AVALANCHE. Cloud had humiliated him, in front of his friends, with an easy defeat. And Vincent had been very close to killing him, if it weren't for Cloud. Squall could have spat in disgust. The thought of Cloud saving him again was sickening; the guy always played the hero. He was even more irritating than Seifer, who was Squall's long time rival.

Squall sighed. He shouldn't think as much. Besides, they finally had a chance to relax and learn about the past. He watched the Bahamuts fly together. He was amazed by the fact that there was a dragon even more powerful than Bahamut. It's 'big brother,' as Cloud called it. He began to wonder if there was other summons that Squall would recognise.

He was dragged out his thinking by footsteps at the entrance to the deck. It was Cloud. Squall scowled and looked away. Great, just what he needed.

Cloud stood at the railing a few feet away from Squall. His golden spikes flowing with the wind. He climbed over the railing and sat on the edge, his feet dangling off the ship. If he fell, he would probably fall to his death.

'Fall! Please fall, it would make me feel a lot better.' Squall's mind screamed.

Cloud studied Squall for a spilt second before speaking.

"Something on your mind?" he asked

"What do you care?" Squall snapped back.

Cloud sighed.

"Vincent asked me to tell you that he is sorry for attacking you," he said calmly, "Yuffie too. I've explained everything to them and they understand."

"Funny," Squall scoffed, "Your group has a liking of attacking people don't they."

Cloud frowned at him.

"You just never listen to reason do you!?" he said loudly. Squall looked round at him in surprise. He had never really seen Cloud angry before. "I've told you already, that I attacked you for a reason. It was to protect Kalm and Tifa. It was the same for Vincent. He wanted to protect Yuffie. Our friends mean more to us than anything. We went through the worst year of our lives together, and we'd do anything for each other. If it were you in my position with Garden, you would have done the same thing."

Squall lowered his head in shame. He hadn't realised how close Cloud and his friends were. He had been blinded by anger and loathing to see it.

"You're very strong Squall," he continued, "Both me and Vincent saw that. If we had a fair fight, I would definitely have my hands full."

Squall looked at Cloud in surprise, again. That was the last thing he had expected Cloud to admit.

Cloud head snapped round in the opposite direction. Squall looked the same way. A large collection or crimson mountains were drawing closer. He saw Cloud smile. Cloud looked at him again.

"I think it's about time you learnt more about the planet, and our little adventure." He said before climbing over the railing and heading towards the bridge. Squall followed.

The Sentinel landed softly on the ground, about a mile away from a small mountain, and everyone disembarked. Squall and his friends looked at a small village on the mountain in awe.

"Welcome to Cosmo Canyon!" Cid said.

* * * * *

The group of 14 people, and a dog, walked through the large metal gates of Cosmo Canyon. The SeeD's looked around the village. There were several cave-like openings that led inside the mountain. Some had signs overhead indicating they were shops, and some had a ladder or steps leading up to them. At the top of the mountain was an observatory. The large telescope poked out of the top towards the sky. In the centre of the village was a bright fire. The flame rose up high and sparks flew from it.

One of the villagers spotted them.

"Nanaki, we have visitors here." He shouted at the mountain.

Out of one of the entrances to the mountain, came a lion-type animal. The beast had a red coat and a headdress. The flame on the tip of its tail burned brightly like the fire in the village. It ran down the stairs towards the group. As it got closer, Squall could see tattoos and scars on its body. It was also blind in its left eye because of the scar that crossed over it.

The beast stopped and Angelo ran up to it. She sniffed at it and growled. She pawed his face and bounced back. The beast suddenly let out a loud bark and snapped at her. She whined and ran to hide behind Squall's legs.

"Yo Red" Barret greeted him happily.

"It is good to see you again over such a long period." It said back.

Rinoa and Selphie gasped.

"It spoke." Selphie said quietly.

"My name is Nanaki but in AVALANCHE I am referred to as Red. It is a pleasure to meet you all." Red said to the SeeD's. He spoke to everyone. "Why don't we go to Grandpa's observatory for refreshments?"

"Soonds braw!" Cid exclaimed, "Ah need a gid beer or twa."

With that they headed to the observatory.

* * * * *

The large group had been talking for almost an hour. Everyone had broken off the group conversations and talked quietly to each other. Cloud decided to ask Red something.

"Hey Red?" he said as he kneeled down beside the beast, "Can I show Squall and the others the display?"

Red nodded and told him how to work it.

"Thanks Red."

Cloud got up and walked over to Rinoa. He bent down and whispered to her.

"Rinoa, could you get your friends to meet me in that room tonight?" he said pointing to the almost impossible to see door. "There's something I need to show you."

"Okay Cloud, I'll do that." She replied and started to gather her friends.

Cloud went in the small room and started up the machine. It had to warm up before it could work properly.

'It's time they knew what happened to the planet.' He thought.

* * * * *

"Squally babe. Wake up!" Rinoa whispered that night. They were in their room. Rinoa had gotten fully dressed and was trying to wake Squall up.

Squall wearily opened his eyes. He frowned at her and muttered something before closing his eyes again. Rinoa put her hands on her hips.

"Get your lazy ass up right now!" she said in a motherly tone. She got the reply of two fingers. She growled and stomped her foot down.

Squall ignored her. He suddenly felt a heavy object land on his stomach, totally winding him. Rinoa lay on top off him and kissed his cheek.

"You gonna get up?" she asked innocently.

"Okay, okay." Squall gasped. "You need to get off me first." He tried to push her off, but she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Do you want me to get up or not?" he moaned. She giggled and held on tighter as he tried to sit up. She screamed slightly as he rolled over and lay on top of her. He kissed her neck then got up. "What's the deal?"

"Cloud wants us to meet him at the observatory. He has something to show us."

* * * * *

Cloud sat patiently in the display room. They were late. What he had to show them was important. They should at least learn about their own planet.

Suddenly the door opened and Zell stepped in. The rest of the group stepped in and walked up to Cloud. He pointed to the platform on the floor. They all stepped on it.

"What is it you want to show us Cloud?" Quistis asked

He pulled a lever and stepped onto it himself. "You'll see."

The platform started to rise to the top of the room. It stopped and everything went black. 

*Insert 'LIFESTREAM' music-

Cloud pushed a button and the area light up. Apart from Cloud, they all gasped. Around them was their solar system. The sun was surrounded by large rings which carried the planets. Meteorites, comets and stars surrounded them.

"It's soooo beautiful!" Selphie whispered excitedly.

"Sure is." Irvine replied.

"This is our Solar System." Cloud explained, "Every planet is shown here. This is what is happening in space right now."

"Wow." Quistis gasped.

Cloud walked up to the third ring from the sun. "This is our planet." He said as it went past. "All planets in the universe are the different, but they all share one thing. They're life source."

"Eventually…all humans die. When you die, your body decomposes and returns to the planet. This is one thing everyone knows. But what about your soul, your consciousness. They too return to the planet. They become the planets life source, spiritual energy. The spiritual energy exists inside the planet. It's what keeps it intact. It becomes a stream of life energy, known as the Lifestream. When children are born, they receive a part of the spiritual energy. They grow and eventually return to the planet once again. There are exceptions though."

"What's so important about the planet keeping the Lifestream?" Squall asked.

"Watch this."

The lights dimmed and everything but their planet vanished. There was a small human on top. He wandered around before stopping. His body broke apart and went into the planet, as did the trees around him. A green light spiralled round the planet and shone brightly.

"As you can see, your spirit returns to the planet and gives it energy. When that's taken away…" He held out his hand, all the green light left the planet and collected on it. The edges of the planet started to break and fall of. Suddenly it split into pieces.

Everyone else gasped.

"Oh my goodness." Rinoa said with her hands over her mouth.

Cloud looked at them.

"That's what would have happened if we hadn't saved the planet. A company called Shinra Inc. used Mako Reactors to suck out the Lifestream and compress it. It turned into Mako and was used for electricity. When I first joined AVALANCHE that was their goal. To stop Shinra from killing the planet. But it soon turned worse than that."

"A man named Sephiroth, who was long presumed dead, killed President Shinra and devised his own plan to destroy the planet."

On cue, a large meteorite came through a black hole and headed straight towards the planet but stopped. It shone bright red and was almost the size of the planet.

"This is Meteor." Cloud continued, "Sephiroth called this with the magic from the Black materia. He used this to kill the planet so he could become a god."

"Thousands of years ago, this planet was home to the Cetra or the Ancients. They were an advanced species and looked after the planet. They lived their lives, searching for a place called the Promised Lands. A place where there was eternal happiness and no suffering. They lived out their lives and died. That was when they arrived at the Promised Lands. They would merge with the Planet and be eternally happy."

"Over 2000 years ago, a strange organism landed on this planet called J-E-N-O-V-A. No one knows why it was here but it was dangerous. The cells in J-E-N-O-V-A's body effects yours. It came as a friend, disguised as a human. But it went around infecting the Cetra with its cells, turning them into monsters and destroying their bodies. Almost all of the Centra died, for there was no cure. A few dozen of them survived and trapped J-E-N-O-V-A in a stone prison. They went their ways and evolved into the humans that live on this planet today. Until there was only one left. Her name was Aeris Gainsborough."

"I met Aeris in Midgar. She told me of her strange abilities and after a few incidents and rescue attempts, she became a member of AVALANCHE. We journeyed around the world, me, Tifa, Barret, Aeris and Red, who we saved from Shinra's testing labs. We met all the others and we then travelled together. That's how we became so close. We found out was Sephiroth was up to. And Aeris was the only one who could stop him. She learned of the White materia to summon Holy. Holy was created by the Cetra to destroy Meteor, if it ever came to our Planet." He paused, "She left us, to protect us from getting hurt. She went to the City of the Ancients, where she prayed. She prayed for Holy. But it cost her, her life. Sephiroth found her and killed her. I watched the whole scene."

"Wait," Zell interrupted, "If Aeris prayed for Holy, how was Sephiroth able to call Meteor?"

"Sephiroth had clones created." Cloud answered, "One of his clones gave him the Black materia, and he summoned it. When the Northern Cave collapsed, he plummeted into the Lifestream, stopping Holy from reaching out of the Planet. I killed him and that let Holy escape from the Planet, but it was too late. Meteor had already come into the Planets atmosphere."

"So how did you stop it?" Irvine asked.

"We didn't. It was Aeris who stopped it. She was the last remaining Cetra. She summoned the Lifestream from the planet, it combined with Holy and destroyed Meteor. It was thanks to her, that you guys are here. That we're all here. I've began to realise that her sacrifice wasn't in vain. It saved us. It saved the Planet."

* * * * *

That night, Squall lay restless in bed, with Rinoa curling up next to him. She slept peacefully, while he stayed awake. He was thinking too much about the display.

When Tifa said that Cloud blamed himself for Aeris' death, he saw what she meant. Sort of. He had been there. Probably helpless to stop it. But why would he blame himself in particular.

And the clone. Sephiroth's clone. What had happened to him? Cloud hadn't said. Had he been killed when Northern Cave collapsed, or was he still alive, mourning over the loss of his master?

And why had Cloud told them this? Was something going to happen? Or was he just teaching them something?

Squall didn't know, and after an hour of thinking hard, he drifted off to a peaceful sleep.

Hope you liked it.

A/N: Here's a first – Shout outs.

I thought of doing this because I want to thank my reviewers and this is just soooo much easier ;D Review and you'll probably get a shout out. The bigger the review, the bigger the shout out.

Zyte – Sorry if I've gave Squall a bit of a beating too much. No more unprovoked attacks, except by monsters but plenty of the others with be getting attacked too.

Jessica Holmes – Thanks. I'm not usually good with describing things but I'm trying to improve. My next fic may have better descriptions, though I doubt it LOL. And good luck with your fics.

Mako-Magic – I've been thinking over and over how to introduce Vincent. Make him jump off a tree and scare them to death or just make him appear out of no where like the mysterious person he is. So I thought, he's kinda a vampire, vampires live in caves…you know where I'm going don't you.

Cloudude55 – I'm glad you're enjoying my fic, and mind and send me your next chapter to edit. If you still want me to.


	15. Monster Slaughter

A/N: Hi. Well here's chapter 15. I think I'm about half way through the fic. Okay, okay, okay…the plot will get deeper from now on, and things are starting to heat up.

Note – I don't care what u say but I LOVE the FF7 and 8 music, I have every song as a MIDI. In the last chapter I put Insert 'Lifestream' music. I will be doing things like that from now on, so you know what song goes best with each part, in my opinion anyway.

Summary – The gang are introduced to Red XIII and are invited to a display with Cloud. They learn about the planet and most of their questions were answered. But Squall has several questions that Cloud refuses to answer.

Chapter 15 - Monster Slaughter

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Cloud woke up the next morning, very tired indeed. He had had a splitting headache all night and that had meant that he never got to sleep until the early hours of the morning. He yawned and decided to get up. They'd be leaving soon anyway.

When he went outside he saw everyone was gathered at the Cosmo Candle. He walked down the stairs and Tifa ran to him.

"Are you okay Cloud? You look exhausted." She asked worriedly.

"I am. I had a headache all night so I hardly got any sleep."

Tifa looked at him carefully, still concerned. He hadn't gotten a headache, bad enough to stop him sleeping, since Sephiroth had been alive. She shuddered at the thought of him being back.

"You got up just in time. We're leaving soon and I was just coming to wake you. Do you want some breakfast?"

"Yeah sure." He answered and smiled. Tifa returned the smile and they walked off together.

* * * * *

Cid and Selphie were inside the Sentinel, fixing up the guns and sorting the supplies. Selphie had become a great help and he was considering teaching her how to fly the ship.

He was loading the guns when he heard the radio go off. He rushed to pick it up.

"Cid Highwind here."

"Yes, Captain. We've received a distress call from a town on the Eastern Continent."

"Where?"

The man paused.

"Kalm sir!"

* * * * *

Squall sat at the Cosmo Candle with his friends and the rest of AVALANCHE. They were talking about the display Cloud had shown them. They were all curious as to who the clone was. Squall was listening mostly, as he was taking in Cosmo Canyon, so he would remember the place.

"Cloud!! Tifa!!" he heard someone squeal.

It was Selphie. She ran up to Cloud and Tifa, who had come out of the food shop, and quickly said something to them. She seemed to be panicking. Squall wasn't close enough to hear the conversation but he could see their facial expressions.

Cloud's face quickly changed from a surprised look to a mix of absolute shock and terror. Tifa's face mirrored his. They both ran to the Sentinel while Selphie ran over to the group at the Cosmo Candle.

"Guys, common, we gotta go!!" she squealed.

"Hey Sephy, calm down." Irvine said, "What's the problem?"

Everyone else was watching Selphie now.

"It's Kalm. We just got a distress call. Their under attack."

As soon as she finished the last word of the sentence, everyone was already sprinting to the Sentinel.

They quickly boarded and Cid took off. Squall noticed both Cloud and Tifa were missing.

"Yo Cid, where's Cloud and Tifa?"

"They went ahead. They're getting there on their Bahamuts. They're a wee bit faster than this 'ere ship."

Squall understood why they went ahead. It was their hometown now. Cloud had been desperate to protect it from him, he'd probably even more worried now.

He hoped they could get their on time.

* * * * *

Tifa sat on her Bahamut while it flew to Kalm. She fought back tears. It was just like Nibelhiem. She didn't want her home to be burnt down again, it would be too much to handle. 

She looked over at loud on his Neo Bahamut. She saw nothing but anger in his eyes. He had protected Kalm for so long; he wasn't going to let it end like this.

They reached the eastern continent, just south of Kalm. In the distance Tifa could see clouds of smoke billowing off the houses. Several of them were on fire.  As they got closer, she heard the scream of the townspeople. Her sadness was soon replaced by anger.

The Bahamuts landed and Cloud and Tifa climbed off. Tifa noticed Cloud put his hand to his head and shut his eyes, before sprinting towards Kalm. She quickly followed.

Both Cloud and Tifa gasped at the horrific sight. Over a dozen monsters were running round the town. They looked almost human. They had bright red eyes and spikes coming out the back of their heads. Their claws were like daggers, both on their hands and feet. They ran after the civilians and were slaughtering them. Corpses lay on the road and there were large poodles of blood.

Cloud stared at the monsters, not believing what he was seeing. They were the same monsters he had seen at the Nibelhiem reactor when he was 16. He clutched his head again and clenched his teeth in pain. He had yet another splitting headache. He tried to shake it off and ran into the town, Tifa close behind.

Two of the monsters spotted them and let out a cry. The sprung forward. Cloud drew out his Apocalypse sword and attacked. He swiped at the monster but it ducked and slashed at Cloud. He jumped back and slashed again. The creature took a hit at its stomach and green blood gushed out. But it was unaffected.

Tifa was having just as bad a time. The monster was slashing at her with its claws and she tried her best to dodge them. She had already received two slashes on her arm and blood was pouring out. She continually punched the monsters face and tried to break its neck, but no matter what she did, the monster seemed to take no damage at all.

Cloud drove his sword into the creature's stomach and it screamed in pain. Cloud's head started to pound even harder. He almost yelled out in pain but gritted his teeth together to prevent it. The monster swiped at his head and he tried to duck. But his body didn't respond. He couldn't control himself. The monsters clawed scratched his face, leaving three cuts leading diagonally up to his eyes. Its other hand dug its claws into his ribs.

Cloud couldn't help but yell as the dagger like claws dug into his rib-cage. He almost screamed when its other hand did the same on his other side. With his head pounding, his face stinging and with two sets of claws in his ribs; his hands lost their grip on his sword. The monster acted with human intelligence. As if it had been waiting for him to let go, it lifted Cloud of his feet, claws still inside him and launched him at the building wall. It threw him with such force that, even though the building was built with solid concrete, he smashed head first right through it.

The impact almost instantly knocked Cloud unconscious but he quickly felt the blackness take him over, as the creature advanced towards him.

* * * * *

Barret sat in the left pilot seat in the Sentinel as it sped towards Kalm. He was worried about Cloud and Tifa. He knew Cloud was capable to take care of himself, but if Tifa was in danger, he would put his life on the line to protect her. He had this feeling in his gut that Cloud was already in trouble.

"A'richt kids, git ready. This ain't gonna be pretty." Cid shouted. Everyone readied their weapons as they came to the edge of the eastern continent.

They each saw the smoke rising from the town. Barret clenched his only fist.

'Hang on Spike! We're comin'."

* * * * *

Tifa kept dodging the monsters attacks. She knew she couldn't keep this up for much longer before being seriously injured. She had to kill this thing now.

She ducked another attack and hooked the monster, dazing it for just a second. That was all the time she needed. She grabbed the things head and twisted it sharply. There was a sickening crack and it fell lifeless to the floor.

Tifa smiled triumphantly but she looked at Cloud and it disappeared. She saw Cloud clutch his head in pain, then be swiped across the face by the monster, which he had stabbed through the stomach. She saw that the tips of the claws were red with Cloud's blood. It stuck both its claws in his ribs and she heard Cloud yell in pain. She felt tears coming to her eyes. She hated seeing Cloud get hurt. She was also surprised at how Cloud had got in that situation. She didn't have time to think about it. She watched as the monster lifted Cloud off of his feet and hurled him straight through a concrete wall. The monster then removed Cloud's sword from it stomach and left it on the ground. It advanced towards Cloud.

'Get up Cloud!' she mentally screamed to him, 'Please get up, c'mon!'

He didn't rise. Tifa realised that he had been knocked out. She sprinted towards him, picking up his sword on the way. It was very heavy, but Tifa had used it before. She ran up behind the monster and swiftly detached its head from its body. It fell to the ground, blood pouring out of its neck. She dropped Cloud's sword and ran over to him. She was right, he had been knocked unconscious. She ran her hand over the cuts on his handsome face and wiped away the debris and blood. She looked down at his waist. There were holes in his shirt were the claws had punctured his skin. Blood was rapidly coming out of the wounds. Tifa started to panic. She didn't have any materia to heal him with.

She could still see some monsters outside in the street but she was too worried about Cloud to help.

"TIFA!!!" she heard a familiar voice shout. She looked down the street to see the rest of AVALANCHE and the SeeD's race towards her.

Everyone, except Rinoa and Barret, continued down the street to exterminate the monsters. Cid was poking and slashing with his spear. Squall was cutting and slicing with his Lionheart. Zell was snapping bones and breaking teeth with his fists. Quistis was backing him up, with her long-range whip. Red XIII ripped the monsters skin with his teeth and Cait Sith was pounding away with his huge arms and body. Vincent, Reeve and Irvine were staying at the back of the group using their guns to do damage. Yuffie and Selphie also stayed back with their long-range weapons. They were slowly killing each monster sustaining few injuries.

Rinoa kneeled next to Cloud and used her stocked Curaga to heal his wounds. He stayed unconscious but he had stopped bleeding.

'Cloud, please be okay.' Tifa pleaded in her mind. 'I need you here now.'

* * * * *

Insert 'Who Are You?' music

Cloud woke up in a strange area. Everything was black. But somehow he was able to see things. He didn't know where he was but he couldn't see any monsters or buildings or Kalm. The last thing he remembered was hitting his head on the wall, when that monster had thrown him. How did he get here?

He walked around but got nowhere. It was like an endless void of nothingness.

He suddenly heard laughing around him.

"Who's there?!" he shouted into the darkness. He got a dark, evil voice as a reply.

"Poor boy." they said mockingly, "Lost in your own mind."

There was someone else there, as he heard laughter again. But it was different, it was cold and icy. It made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.

"Poor Cloud." The second voice said, "The greatest warrior on the planet, not being able to kill a few Mako Mutants."

Cloud felt fear take him over. The second voice…he recognised it. But it was impossible. He was dead. He saw a figure walk out of the darkness. His silver hair shone around him. Someone else came out behind him. She was taller than the other. She had black markings on her face. She had a strange sort of hat on her head. Energy radiated from them both.

"We're after you Cloud." The man said, smirking, "So look after yourself."

Both of the figures walked away, their laughter ringing in the void. Cloud collapsed on the ground.

* * * * *

"Look, he's coming round."

The voice was faint. He couldn't hear it very well, but it was familiar. He wanted to open his eyes but he wanted to sleep too. He slowly opened his eyes to see Selphie and Rinoa were standing over him.

He sat up and looked around. He was no longer in the strange void, but he wasn't in the Kalm streets either.

"You're in the Sentinel's recovery room. Selphie told him, answering his unasked question.

"How long have I been asleep?" he asked curiously.

"Almost a whole day. You had everyone really worried." Rinoa replied

"A day?" he echoed. He had really been out that long?

"Get some rest. We'll go tell the others you're awake." Rinoa told him. As they went out the room, Cloud lay back down and thought about his dream or whatever it was.

He recognised that man. His icy voice, his evil laugh, his hair. He didn't recognise the woman though. He had so many questions. Were they working together? Why were they after him? What would the do to get him? Did they send the Mako Mutants, as they had called them, to attack Kalm?

He had so many questions and no answers. He knew they were all in danger, and he would do anything to protect his friends. Even if he were to sacrifice his own life.

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A/N: Well, the first serious chapter. Few seven pages long. Tell me what you thought of it. K?

Shout outs –

Jessica Holmes – I've kinda wrote this fic for people who have played FF8. That's why I've described AVALANCHE members and not the SeeD's. And I've told them what happened in FF7's story. And sorry that I keep thanking you, but reviewing means a lot to me. :D And I can't help but update quickly, I like writing. Hee hee.

Cludude55 – Hope your fics going well and don't rush it. Try doing first drafts well and improving how you write. It will probably mean less work for me. ;D


	16. Things Start To Heat Up

A/N: Hey guys. Thanks everyone for your reviews, and those that did, read them bottom of the page to see if you got a shout-out. Also, I'm not telling anyone who was in Cloud's dream. I want it to be a surprise, though it might not be. Any other questions review them or email me.

Summary – All hell broke loose as strange creatures attacked Kalm. Cloud and Tifa were the first to start the retaliation, wanting to save their home. Clouds headaches had an effect on his fighting and he was seriously injured. After being knocked unconscious, he has a strange dream and makes a shocking discovery.

Chapter 16 – Things Start To Heat Up

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Tifa walked down the streets of Kalm. She was looking in every direction, taking in the damage the monsters had caused. Her eyes stung from holding back tears. Lots of the houses were blackened from the fires. Corpses still littered the ground and streams of blood ran down the drains. It was a horrifying scene. Tifa held back the urge to puke, and continued down the street until she reached the Seventh Heaven.

The bar hadn't been damaged or burned, so she considered herself lucky. She stared at the bar for a while. She didn't know why she did it. But she broke her eye contact when she heard someone shout on her.

"Tifa!" Rinoa shouted. Along side her was Selphie. They both looked pleased about something. "We've been looking everywhere for you."

"What's up?" Tifa asked.

"It's Cloud." Selphie squealed happily, "He's come round."

At that, they all dashed into the Sentinel, Tifa in the lead.

* * * * *

Cloud stood by the window with a pensive look on his face. He knew that he should be in bed resting. His ribs and face were still aching. There were three very clear, red cuts near his eyes and they never stopped stinging. He looked outside at Kalm.

Everything was getting back to normal, though half the town had been killed. Cloud nearly being one of them. This was too much of a coincidence. He had been away to Rocket Town, suddenly, the town is attacked. He, of course, rushed back. Not wanting his home to be burnt down. He didn't want to go through that again. Then he had that strange dream when he was unconscious. It was as if 'they' had made the mutants attack Kalm, to lure him back here. Another thing was strange. It seemed like the only reason he was injured was because he lost control of his body. He had tried to duck, but he didn't. And his headache had been another problem. They were getting worse. Sometimes he just wanted to scream because of the pain. He knew that 'they' were to blame.

He was pulled out of his train of thought by someone coming into the room. He turned around and saw Tifa walk up to him, with Rinoa and Selphie behind her.

"Cloud!" Selphie said seriously. "You should be in bed resting. You're hurt!"

"I'm fine. And I've just proved it." he said back. Tifa put her arms around his neck and hugged him. He wrapped his arms around her waist and held her close.

"I'm glad you're okay." she said quietly, "I thought I was going to lose you."

"I was worried about you." he said back, quietly, "I didn't know what happened to you after I blacked out."

Tifa pulled away. Rinoa decided to make Tifa embarrassed.

"It's really thanks to Tifa you're alive." she told Cloud, "She killed the Mako Mutant that you had trouble with. Sliced its head right off and came to look after you."

It had worked. Tifa looked straight down at the floor as her face turned bright red.

"Looks like I owe you know." Cloud said to Tifa. She laughed slightly and looked up as her blush disappeared.

Selphie turned to Cloud.

"Let me heal the rest of you. You don't want to walk about all day like that."

Cloud nodded and he then felt a tingling sensation on his face and at his ribs. Soon the cuts disappeared and his face was back to normal. If any of his injures left scars, they were impossible to see.

"Thanks Selph."

She nodded to say 'you're welcome.' They all exited the room and headed to the bridge.

* * * * *

Squall lazed on a bench inside the Sentinel, cleaning his Lionheart. He had spent hours getting the blood stains from yesterday off. They had had to fight off all the Mako-Mutants, and Quistis and Yuffie had summoned their Leviathan's to put out all the fires. The mutants had been the scariest looking things Squall had ever seen. He shivered at the thought of them, and he secretly hoped they wouldn't bother them again.

He heard footsteps behind him but didn't turn round. He continued to clean his blade while Cloud walked past him and up to the bridge. Squall was surprised to see Cloud up again so quickly, he had taken quite a beating yesterday. As they walked by Squall, he realised Rinoa wasn't with them. He soon found out where she was though. He felt her arms go around his neck and she planted a kiss on his cheek.

"C'mon Squall. We're taking off soon so we need to go to the bridge."

"Okay. Let's go.

So they walked hand in hand up to the bridge.

* * * * *

Cid and Selphie sat at the pilots seats as everyone else sat behind him. They all buckled their seatbelts, and waited for take off.

Selphie was at the controls, she was shaking slightly. It was the first time anyone had seen her nervous before flying a ship. Her happy-go-lucky attitude always got her excited for flying the Ragnarok.

"A'richt Selph?" Cid asked, "C'mon, ya ken how ta dae this. Just tak yer time."

"Okay." she said back nervously. The engines started and Selphie brought the stick down. Slowly the ship started to rise and Cid started speeding the ship up. The Sentinel started slowly driving forward as Selphie raised the altitude. Soon the ship floated above the town and sped off. Selphie let out a sigh of relief.

"Weel done Selph." Cid complimented her, "Yer no bad for a beginner with this 'ere ship."

"Thanks Cid." she said back with a shaky voice. Everyone unbuckled their seatbelts and went off to do their own thing. Irvine went up to Selphie, hugged her and kissed her on the forehead. Cid let her take over the plane's controls and she flew the ship to Cosmo Canyon.

* * * * *

Cloud sat on the railing of the deck, his sword leaning against the wall. He had decided to bring his Ragnarok and Ultima Weapon with him. The Ragnarok was the lighter sword of the two, but the Ultima Weapon had a lot more power to give. He currently had his Ragnarok with him.

He had his left leg hanging over the edge, his right leg bent up to his chest. He rubbed his forehead with his hand. He had another headache. His headaches had started to get more frequent. He had had at least one every week before Squall and the others had arrived. Now he had them everyday. He hadn't told anyone of course. He wasn't going to bother them with his moaning.

He heard a familiar sound of footsteps behind him. He didn't turn round. He didn't need to. He knew who it was; it was like a sixth sense.

"Hey Cloud." said Tifa's soft voice. She walked up to him and put a hand on his shoulder. "You okay?"

Cloud was confused as to why she asked that, then he realised he was still rubbing his forehead.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine."

Tifa smiled. Cloud never liked lying to Tifa, but he did it only to make her feel better. He smiled back and looked out to the horizon. He could see the sun rising. The sky was mixed with red and orange light. It was very pretty.

"Beautiful isn't it?" Tifa asked him."

'Not as beautiful as you,' Cloud thought. He certainly wasn't going to tell her that. So he replied in the usual way. "It sure is."

Tifa continued to stare at the sun while Cloud looked to the east. Something caught his eye. It looked like a dark cloud but it couldn't be. Not on a day like this. He strained his eyes to look at them. As they came closer, they looked like birds, but larger. Cloud felt a strange energy from them, which got stronger the closer they got.

"Tif, hand me a pair of binoculars."

"Why?" she asked.

"Just do it." he snapped. Tifa looked hurt but handed him a pair anyway. Cloud stood on the railed, leaned against the wall and placed the binoculars over his eyes.

What he saw paralyzed him with shock. They were Mako-Mutants, but of a different kind. These ones had large black wings to become airborne. They were in a large group of about 50 and they were heading for the Sentinel.

Cloud jumped off the railing and ran down to the bridge. Tifa looked at him in confusion as he ran away and she picked up the binoculars. She looked towards the clump of mutants. When she pulled the binoculars away, the entire colour was drained from her face. She dropped the binoculars and ran after Cloud.

* * * * *

Squall was sorting his materia and talking to Rinoa, when he heard a loud thud at the stairs. He turned around quick enough to see Cloud stand up. He looked as if he had hurt his leg; obviously he had jumped down the stairs and landed harder than he had wanted to. He stood up and, with a slight limp, darted to the bridge. Squall, curious as to why he was in such a hurry, followed him.

"Guys!" he heard Cloud shout. "I think we're in trouble."

"What's up Spike?" Barret asked, while he sat on the floor playing with Marlene and Angelo.

"There are Mako-Mutants heading this way."

"But why would we be in danger?" Zell asked. "We're in the sky."

"Because, they're in the sky too Zell. These are a different king of mutant. They're aerial."

Almost everyone in the room gasped. Vincent stepped forward.

"What do you propose we do?" he asked Cloud.

"Why you asking me?" Cloud asked back.

"Well you're the leader ain't you?" Barret exclaimed.

Cloud sighed. Squall remembered that he had been leader of AVALANCHE before. The others were used to looking up to him.

Cloud ran his hand through his hair, thinking.

"Cid, are the guns on the ship operational." Only three of them are working. The others still need to be fixed."

"Damn." Cloud muttered. "Okay, this is what we'll do."

Everyone gathered round, apart from Cid and Selphie, who were piloting the ship.

"We'll have everyone attack them from the deck. We'll have a better advantage in a large group."

"Oh and how are we supposed to do that?" Yuffie asked. She had been standing by a window all afternoon, spewing her guts out. All of AVALANCHE knew of her motion sickness. "Will we spread out her wings and fly?" she added sarcastically.

"No Yuffie. Our summons and GF's will. Everyone who has a long-range weapon will stay on the deck. The rest of us will on our Bahamuts or other airborne summons we can use."

"RIGHT!" everyone chorused and they ran to the deck.

'I hope Cloud knows what he's doing.' Squall thought.

* * * * *

Soon, the area around the Sentinel was filled with screeches, gunfire and cries. Yuffie, Rinoa, Barret, Irvine, Cait Sith and Red XIII stayed on the deck and attacked mutants that came near the ship. Rinoa, Cait Sith and Red XIII, being good magic users, were casting random devastating spells. Vincent had transformed into Chaos and was attacking the mutants at point black range, using his sharp claws to rip their skin and wings off. Tifa and Squall was flying on their Bahamuts, attacking with magic and the Bahamuts blasting the mutants with their Mega Flares. Zell's Quezacotl was shocking them with electricity, while Quistis' and Reeve's Phoenix were burning them with their fire. Cloud's Neo Bahamut was blasting away with its Giga Flare, taking out at least two in one go. But they never seemed to stop coming. The mutants were attacking randomly, hitting anyone that came within there range.

But that suddenly changed. In an instant, they two dozen that were there, spilt into two groups and went for Squall and Cloud.

'What the hell!?' Squall's mind screamed, as his Bahamut flew as fast as it can away from the mutants. But it didn't work very well. The mutants eventually caught up, only to taste steel as Squall swiped them with his Gunblade. Several of them flew a distance behind Bahamut. They gathered fire in their mouths and shot it towards Squall. He turned around in time to see six fireballs hit his back, chest and head. The fireballs exploded when the made contact with him, and he quickly fell unconscious. His limp body slipped off Bahamut and he plummeted towards the sea.

"SQUALL!" Rinoa screamed as he hit the water. Zell flew down and dived into the water, his Quezacotl waiting for him. He grabbed Squall and pulled him to the surface. He lifted Squall onto his GF and climbed on himself. He quickly checked Squall's pulse. He felt one, but it was very faint. His Quezacotl flew back up to the deck. Zell jumped off and pulled Squall down onto the deck floor. Rinoa instantly ran up to him, to check if he was alright.

Cloud was having even worse of a time. The group that had attacked Squall changed their direction and headed for Cloud. Soon, almost every mutant was attacking him and his Neo Bahamut. Several of them he swiped at with his Ragnarok and they died instantly. But he was soon covered with scratches, cuts and bruises. More and more blood was being shed each time one of them dug their claws into his skin. He felt his energy pour out of him along with his blood. His friends were blasting the mutants and were certainly helping, though each time the attacked; Cloud felt the aftershocks of their attacks, each time draining more energy from him. Neo Bahamut dived and headed towards land. The mutants that followed send lightning sparks at him. He felt a surge of electricity running through him, instantly paralyzing and knocking him out. He too fell off his summon, and he fell almost 30 feet, landing on the hard ground.

"CLOUD!" Tifa yelled, and she flew down to him. She didn't wait for her Bahamut to land before she jumped off and rushed to Cloud. She kneeled beside him and looked up at the mutants. Each of them flew back to where they had come from. Everyone stared in surprise at the mutants sudden retreat. No one understood why they were leaving. They all had one question in their head.

'What's going on?'

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A/N: Rubbish, eh? Well, I've been thinking about this one for a while and this was my best attempt at writing it. Also, I got both Squall and Cloud injured, so I don't show favouritism. R & R please.

Shout outs –

Mako-Magic – Good question. The Apocalypse is a sword that Cloud can find in a Sub-Quest in the game. You can find it near the exit of the Ancient Forest near Cosmo Canyon. I used it because it has Triple AP growth and because he had strong materia with him. And I just felt like changing the sword :D Hope that's answered your question. And again, good work with your update. (If you'd like me to send you a pic of any of Cloud's sword, contact me. I have over 100 FF7 pics ;D)

rikku-or-riku – Thanks for the review. I may have romance between other characters, but there are no couples that I like, beside Cid/Shera. I will try though.

cloudude55 – Thanks again and no I can't tell you whether it's him (and her) or not. Sorry, but I don't give away many secrets for my fic. ;) Again, good luck with yours.

Zyte – Sorry, I ain't answering that. It might be and it might not be him. You'll need to wait and see.

just_an_inquiry – First things first. I am not a Final Fantasy VIII hater. I love the game; I've played it more times than I have with FF7. And second, I'm not making Cloud out as some kind of God. I'm sorry if it seems like that but it's not true. And if you hadn't noticed, this fic is mostly centered around Squall and his views. So it's not in any way a total FF7 fic, it's a crossover, okay? And…the fic is set in the past, remember? 

Squall is always surprised by Clouds abilities because Cloud can do things he can, or better, without junctions. And if you recall, Cloud got injured seriously in the Battle Square in a previous chapter. I'm not making him invincible; on the contrary, he's just as vulnerable as Squall. And I'll agree with you saying that Lionheart is stronger than OmniSlash, but you have to have very high strength stats to hit for 9999 HP. With Cloud, you only have to have high HP to do serious damage. And Cloud can defeat the enemies in his time easier than others because he's knows their weaknesses and such. And because of the Mako in his body.

Also, Cloud was only able to be controlled because his personality was spilt and his mind was broken. And he didn't end up crying every time. He was only upset because Sephiroth almost made him kill Aeris, and he made Cloud give him the Black Materia.

And Rinoa. Yes, she's a sorceress. Yes, she can probably kill everyone with one blast but she wouldn't do that. She doesn't like seeing people get hurt. Also, she has no reason to attack anyone. 

And back to Squall. Towards the end of the game, he began to change. He trusted people more. Because Cloud can do impressive things without junctions, Squall doesn't trust him much. He sees him as a threat to his friends.

One tip, okay? To me, you're obviously a Final fantasy VII hater. So don't moan at me for liking FF7 better, and don't say that I hate FF8 okay? If your going to flame everyone who does a FF7/8 crossover just because the prefer FF7. Don't read them. It's as simple as that. I'm not saying this for me, but if you do read others, tell them the good things in the fic. Don't like my fic…flame me all you want. I ain't changing my ideas, okay?

mistasparkle123() – Thanks for your review. I may not have other couples, but I will consider it if I do a sequel. I just don't think there are any good couples.

Brutal2003 – Glad you like it. And thanks for reviewing.


	17. Shared Nightmares

A/N: Hey guys. Quick update as always. This chapter took a lot of thinking about so I hope you enjoy it.

Summary – Selphie learns to drive the Sentinel and Cloud recovers from his recent attack. But he and Squall have both been badly injured due to another Mako-Mutant attack. But this time they were aerial. After beating Squall and Cloud, they fled. What's going on?

Chapter 17 – Shared Nightmares

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They all watched as the Mako-Mutants flew out of sight. Then they remember what had happened.

Rinoa kneeled beside Squall, her fingers at his neck. She had to make sure his pulse was strong enough. It was. She felt it, even though it was quite faint. Thanks to Zell, he hadn't drowned but he would certainly be knocked out for some time. Irvine lifted Squall up and put Squall's arm around his shoulder. He carried him down the stairs to the recovery room.

On the ground Tifa was examining Cloud. Tifa cast Cure3 on him but it didn't help much. She thought about reviving him with a Phoenix Down but decided that it would be better to let him rest. He had stopped bleeding at least. She heard something near her and turned to see Chaos. He walked up to Cloud and kneeled down.

"I'll take him to the ship." he said, in Chaos' menacing voice.

"O-okay." she said shakily.

Vincent lifted Cloud up and put Cloud's arm around his shoulder, like Irvine had done with Squall. He spread his dark black wings and flew up to the ship. Tifa walked up to her Bahamut and climbed on.

'Cloud…Squall. I hope they'll be okay.' she thought.

* * * * *

Squall lay calmly on the bed while Quistis examined him. She was quite surprised to see how little damage he had taken. He had lots of scratches and cuts, but none of them were deep. Some of his skin was burned along with his leather jacket. Other than that he was fine. Quistis was concerned. Squall had taken worse beatings than this and managed to stay conscious.

'What's wrong with you Squall?' she asked mentally.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard the door opening. She turned round and saw Vincent, who had transformed back to normal, carrying a very badly beaten Cloud. Vincent lay him down on a different bed as Quistis rushed up to check him.

"Oh my goodness!" she exclaimed, "He looks terrible."

He did indeed. He had dozens of deep cuts, mostly at his chest and ribs. Some blood had dried around them and the skin on his bare arms had been burnt from the electricity. Quistis touched his right arm.  I was very hot and, though he was unconscious, Cloud winced in pain. She lifted his head up slightly and saw a red liquid show through his golden hair. He had obviously hit his head hard and if the electricity shocks hadn't knocked him out, that certainly would have.

"Can you fix him up?" Vincent asked.

"Sure I can. I helped Dr. Kadowaki in the infirmary at Balamb Garden. I've dealt with injuries like this before, but they weren't this bad. He should be fine though." She paused for a second. "And could you get Selphie for me? Her limit attack might help here."

Vincent nodded and went to get her. Quistis went back to examine Cloud, before she was interrupted again by Tifa, Barret, Rinoa and Irvine coming in.

Rinoa walked up to Squall and brushed his hair away from his face. She held back tears, and prayed that he would be okay.

Tifa walked up to Quistis. She had no tears in her eyes, only a worried look on her face.

"How is he?" she asked Quistis.

"He's fine. I've ask Selphie to come in here and she'll fix them up."

"How'll she do tha'?" Barret asked.

Quistis couldn't answer as Selphie burst through the door with her usual attitude on the go.

"Quisty! What do you want me to do? Can I use it? Can I use it?" she squealed happily.

"Yes! Yes! You can use it." Quistis shouted to calm her down. Selphie stood back near the door and took her nunchakus off her back. She brought the two ends together and twirled them round. She then lifted them above her head, separated as far as they could go. A burst of energy appeared round, both Squall and Cloud. Their wounds quickly healed and their blood vanished. Their clothes were also repaired.

"Wow!" was all that Barret could whisper.

"Woohoo!" Selphie shouted and ran back to the bridge to take over the Sentinel again.

Tifa ran up to Cloud and looked at him. All his cuts and burns had disappeared. It looked like the work of a 'Full Cure' spell.

"Should we wake them up?" she asked.

"No." Quistis answered. "Let them rest. They've had a long day."

"Quistis?" Rinoa said suddenly, "Why was Squall knocked out so easily? He's had worse injuries than that and he's still managed to stay awake."

"I think I know why." Tifa told her. "Squall has recently been using materia. All of AVALANCHE uses it and Cloud taught Squall. When you equip materia, it affects your body in some way. I could make you slower, make your magic stronger, but I'm guessing that, with Squall, his stamina was lowered. All in all, materia is like a two ended sword."

Rinoa nodded and looked back down at Squall. She noticed that he was tossing his head slightly, from side to side, as if he was having a bad dream. Rinoa started panicking as his body started to twitch.

"Guys! What's happening to him?" she shouted.

* * * * *

Insert – 'Those Chosen by the Planet' music

Squall was walking down a dark street. There was fog surrounding him. He could hardly see, but he could hear well. He heard screams and yells coming from the distance. He heard a familiar scream.

"SQUALL!!"

He recognised that voice.

"RINOA!!" he yelled and sprinted off to where the sound had come from. He darted through alleyways and through the fog. His mind was screaming for Rinoa to hear him. He exited the alleyway and looked up the street. He gasped and his eyes went wide.

There were corpses littering the ground. Through the fog, he could see the puddles of blood pouring out of them. He rushed up to the nearest one. He was turned over so he faced the ground. Squall pulled him over and looked at his face. He yelled in shock and his eyes started to fill with tears.

It was Quistis. He rushed to each body in turn. He saw Zell, Barret, Cid, Yuffie, Selphie and even Tifa.

'What happened?' his head screamed as tears began to run down his cheeks. All of his friends and AVALANCHE were dead. He looked further up the street. He strained to see through the fog. He noticed a female body on the ground with someone towering over them. He ran forward and stopped when he recognised who it was.

There she was. Lying face up, a large cut across her chest and blood coming out the side of her mouth. Her black hair was stained red and there were tear marks down her face. Her blue outfit was ripped and her eyes were wide open, staring at him.

Squall's heart thumped in his chest. She was gone. He hadn't been able to save her. He had failed as Knight. His tears began to burn his eyes and he stared at her lifeless body. He looked up at her murderer. He couldn't see their face very well, but shocked and rage rushed through his body and he realised who it was. His large sword, his spiky hair and his piercing green eyes.

Squall's eyes narrowed in confusion. He didn't have green eyes. What was going on?

Cloud slowly turned and looked at Squall, a smirked owned his face. Squall stepped back in shock. He couldn't believe that Cloud was doing this. Why would he do it to his own friends? Why would he do it to Tifa?

Cloud began to laugh quietly as he looked at Squall's face. He brought his sword up with one had and pointed it at Squall.

"You're next Leonhart!" he said. His voice was scary. It sounded like Cloud's but someone else's voice was with it.

Squall didn't have time to think about it. Before he knew it, Cloud was rushing forward, with his sword raised. Squall couldn't move and he watched in horror as the sword lowered and headed straight down to pierce his chest. He saw it in slow motion. Cloud's sword inched closer and it almost made contact, when everything went black.

* * * * *

Insert – 'Who Are You' music

Cloud was in the void of darkness once again. He wandered around like he did last time, only, he didn't see anyone.

'Man!' he thought, 'What the hell is this place.'

He started to walk again but he wasn't moving. It felt as if his body wasn't responding. Suddenly, he was engulfed by a bright light. He shielded his eyes with his arm until the light disappeared. He looked around him and gasped.

It was the No.1 Reactor in Midgar. He yelled when he saw he was floating in midair. He looked at the reactor core. His eyes widened. It was him and Barret. This was a flashback from over a year ago. This was his first mission in AVALANCHE, to blow the reactor. He looked down at himself and realised that this was when he still had his personality split. He saw himself grab his head and heard a familiar voice.

'WATCH OUT! THIS ISN'T JUST A REACTOR!'

Cloud heard it as well only louder. He had to cover his ears to stifle the noise. The reactor vanished and he was at the City of the Ancients. He saw Aeris on the memorial. She was praying for Holy. He also saw himself walk up to her sword put. This was when he was being controlled. He watched in horror as he saw himself raise his sword above Aeris and he brought it down.

Before he could see anymore, he was at Northern Crater. He wasn't alone there. Tifa, Barret, Rufus, Hojo and Scarlet were there also. Cloud saw himself holding the Black Materia and realised what was about to happen. Sephiroth took control of him once more and his body floated up to where Sephiroth was sleeping. His hand slowly inched towards the pod.

"NO!!" Cloud shouted but it didn't stop himself. The Black Materia slipped into the pod and started glowing brightly.

Cloud grabbed his head as he heard another familiar voice.

'You're not as safe as you think Cloud. You'll never be safe from me!'

Cloud screamed in agony as his head felt like it was going to explode then he passed out once again.

* * * * *

Squall yelled as he woke up from unconsciousness. Rinoa grabbed his wrist and he tried to force it away but stopped when he realised it was her.

"Rinoa." he whispered.

Rinoa hugged him tightly and he happily returned it. He had been so scared, seeing her lying on the street.

He heard another yell from the other side of the room, and saw Cloud sit up quickly. He watched as Tifa put a hand on his chest to calm him down. He had a scared look on his face and he stared at Tifa in surprise. They both held each other tightly.

Squall wanted to go over there and kick the living daylights out of Cloud, but it had only been a dream. It didn't mean anything.

Or did it?

--------------------------------

A/N: Whooooo. Spooky eh? I enjoyed doing this chapter for once. If anyone wondering where I got Squall's nightmare idea from, it was from the demo of Silent Hill. The streets filled with fog but I made the rest up. Hope you enjoyed. Another update soon.

Shout-outs –

Jessica Holmes – Glad you liked it. I'm not always good at descriptions but I'm definitely improving. Also, that was my first major battle scene that I've wrote. It was kinda inspired by The Matrix 3 cause I'm a huge Matrix fan. And don't rush your update; a masterpiece takes time to write. ;D

Brutal2003 – Well, I'm glad that someone agrees with me. Thanks for your review. Much appreciated.

Mako-Magic – Yeah. I got a bad flame from just-an-inquiry (gave them a shout-out on previous chapter) about Squall getting attacked a bit much. Also for giving Cloud god-like abilities, which I do not. Anyway, glad you liked the pic I sent you.

Cloudude55 – Same as always. Thanks for review, and I can't wait to edit your new chapter. Talk to ya later.


	18. Finding Some Answers

A/N: Hey, hey guys. Ain't I a fast updater. Okay, boring fic comin up. But that's my opinion. Okay, read on.

Summary – After the attack by the Mako-Mutants, Cloud and Squall were knocked out cold. While unconscious, they both have strange dreams. What do they mean?

Chapter 18 – Finding Some Answers

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Tifa sat next to Cloud in the Sentinel. He was unusually quiet. She didn't know what was wrong, but he had been quiet ever since he had woken up. He seemed jumpy as well, but he never showed it. Tifa could always tell how he was feeling just by looking at him. And right now, she could tell that he was pretty shaken up.

"Cloud? What's wrong?" she asked him softly.

He didn't answer straight away. Instead, he just continued to stare at the floor. He shut his eyes and sighed.

"I'm fine Tifa. Just stop worrying."

"Sorry Cloud." she said back, slightly hurt from his answer. "You're just a little quiet. And you seem shaken up."

Cloud quickly stood up and snapped at her, "I'm fine alright! Just stop bothering me!"

Tifa watched him and he walked away, and felt tears come to her eyes. She felt someone sit next to her and put an arm around her shoulder. She looked up to see Zell.

"Just give him a while. He'll be better after he's done some thinking." he advised her.

"How do you know that?" she asked. She thought he would have taken that as a rude question, but he smiled.

"Trust me. If you knew Squall, back when he was a loner, you'd know how to handle someone who's in a bad mood." he said quickly, with a grin.

Tifa laughed slightly and smiled back. He was right. Cloud used to have mood swings like this while they were chasing Sephiroth. But Tifa was still confused as to what could have put him in such a bad mood. Maybe it was her. Whatever it was, she hoped that he would cheer up soon.

* * * * *

The Sentinel had soon landed in Cosmo Canyon and everyone was circled around the Cosmo Candle. They all sat quietly and stared at the fire. Vincent was the first one to break the silence.

"So, where do we go from here?"

No one answered; instead most of them looked at Cloud.

Cloud didn't answer. He just continued to stare into the fire, with a distant look on his face. Tifa, who sat next to him, put a hand on his shoulder. He blinked quickly as he looked at her. He then realized everyone was looking at him.

"What?" he asked in a confused voice.

"Were you even listening?" Yuffie asked irritably.

"No, not really." he answered and looked back into the fire.

"Vincent was asking where we should go next." Quistis told him, also in a slightly annoyed voice.

Cloud continued to stare into the fire and answered simply. "Nibelhiem."

"Why's that Cloud?" Tifa asked.

"I recognize those Mako-Mutants." he said slowly. "They came from the Nibelhiem Reactor."

"It would be the most logical place to start." Red pointed out.

"So wha's goin'?" Cid asked.

Cloud stood up immediately. "I'm going."

Tifa also stood up. "I'm going too." she said, looking at Cloud.

He didn't want Tifa to go. He was concerned for her safety, but he couldn't stop her. Tifa was a kind of girl who, once she had made up her mind, wouldn't change their decision.

Squall and Rinoa stood up.

"We're coming too. I'm going to get back at those mutants for what they did to me. And Rinoa's strong magic may come in handy."

Cloud nodded and the four walked away.

Squall and Cloud both climbed onto their Bahamuts and the girls climbed up behind them. They took of together and flew towards Nibelhiem.

* * * * *

Insert – 'Anxious Heart' music

Nibelhiem was deserted. After the fall of Shinra, the actors that had come here left. The four of them walked down the silent street.

As Cloud walked past where his old house used to be, memories came flooding back. His childhood, his mother, the night before he left to join SOLDIER and the night that the town had been burnt down. Most of them were memories he'd rather forget.

Tifa was the same. She remembered her family, how her mother had died, her friends, the burning fires, and seeing her father being slaughtered by Sephiroth. It took all her strength to fight back the tears that were threatening to spill out.

They silently walked up to the edge of the mountains and stopped. They could all see the reactor at the other end of the bridge. Cloud led them across it. It swerved from side to side, but everyone managed to keep their balance. When the final person, Squall, had come off the bridge they headed down several ladders and into the reactor.

* * * * *

Insert – 'Mako Reactor' music

Squall stepped into the reactor and looked at his surroundings. There were several ladders and pipes that lead into a small door, where they were heading. Squall looked down at the bottom of the reactor, and gasped. There was a strange green liquid fifty feet down. It glowed brightly, just like Cloud's eyes. Squall shook Rinoa, to get her attention. She turned to him, and looked to where he was pointing. She also gasped. They stared at the liquid and got a shock when Cloud explained to them what it was.

"That stuff is called Mako. These reactors used to suck the Lifestream out of the Planet and condense it into Mako, which was used for electricity. That was until we shut them down. But the Mako down there will stay there."

"Why do you not just take it out?" Rinoa asked.

"Because it's poisonous. And I've learnt that first hand." he added before he and Tifa continued through the reactor. Rinoa and Squall looked at each other and shrugged. They then quickly followed.

The next area was filled with pods. And they were all empty. Tifa and Cloud stood at the foot of the stairs.

"I might have guessed." Cloud said aloud and he walked up to examiner the pods. "These have been opened manually. There's no sign of them being forced open."

"But who would dot his?" Tifa asked from behind him.

'I am a pretty good idea who.' Cloud thought to himself.

Suddenly, each one of them heard a metal clank outside the room. Cloud could feel a strange presence coming nearer.

"Quick! Hide!" he whispered to them. There were three doors that lead out of the pod room. One of them was not an option, so they split up and went through separate doors. Squall with Rinoa, and Cloud with Tifa.

Squall left the door open just enough to see what was happening on the other side. Rinoa was clinging onto him tightly, shaking. Squall shut his eyes and prayed that no one would look in their door.

Cloud and Tifa leaned against the wall, looking through the crack in the door, which they had left slightly open. Cloud watched the door where they had heard the sound from and frowned when he saw what it was.

It was another Mako-Mutant.

Cloud held his breathe while he could hear Tifa breathing hard. He pulled her to him and held her close. She breathed onto his shoulder and whispered in his ear.

"Cloud. I'm really scared." She was. After she had seen what the mutants could do to Cloud, she was terrified. And she was sure that this Mutant hadn't come alone.

Cloud held her tightly and whispered back, "Don't worry. We'll be okay. I promise." He continued to watch the Mutant as it looked around the room.

Its head snapped round in his direction. And it slowly walked towards his door. Its red eyes were gleaming, and its mouth was open, exposing its sharp fangs and drooling mouth.

As it got closer, Cloud felt the presence grow stronger. It was as if he could sense it. But that would mean that. It could sense him as well!

Cloud backed away from the door, Tifa still in his arms. He looked around and noticed a shaft on the floor. He let Tifa go and flipped the lid of the shaft off. He stood up again and grabbed Tifa's shoulders.

"Tif. I need you to go down this shaft and get out of here. The mutants know I'm here, I'm positive."

"I don't want to leave you!" she protested.

"And I don't want to see you get hurt. Please just go. I'll be fine."

Tifa nodded and, hesitating slightly, slid down the shaft. Cloud closed the lid and drew his sword. He turned back towards the door. He had turned round just in time. A second later, the mutant crashed through and tried to ram into him. He jumped up and flipped over its head. He ran through the door and shut it. The mutant rammed the door hard, almost crashing through it. Cloud heard the slashing of a sword and looked the exit to see Squall fighting with another mutant.

The mutant charged into him and he fell back. Rinoa cast a Thundaga spell on it and it fell to the ground. She helped Squall up and turned to Cloud as he ran up to them.

"C'mon let's get out of here!"

The dashed out of the reactor and looked up to the sky. There were dozens of aerial mutants attacking their Bahamuts. The Bahamuts screeched and blasted away but they were outnumbered. Cloud readied his magic and focused. A green and blue materia started glowing. Cloud focused hard until his magic was ready.

A blinding green fog erupted around him and blasted at the mutants. Squall recognised it as the Ultima spell that Cloud had cast on him.

The wave of magic washed over the mutants, injuring them. Their screeches could be heard and the turned their attention to Cloud, who was surrounded by fog again. Another three Ultima spells were fired and the mutants fell into the river of Mako at the bottom of the mountain.

Cloud's materia stopped glowing. The materia took the energy it needed from Cloud, causing him to collapse onto his knees. The continuous casting of Ultima had drained most of his energy. He sighed in relief when he realised that their Bahamuts were fine.

"Cloud!" he heard Tifa shout. She rushed up to him and hugged him. Cloud was relieved that she was okay.

Suddenly, the air was filled with the sound of the Sentinel's engines. Rinoa waved them down and they waited to board.

* * * * *

Cloud sat on a hill near Kalm, thinking about the days happenings.

So the Mako-Mutants could sense him and vice-versa. That meant that, no matter where he went, they would follow. That meant that, if he was around his friends, he'd be putting them in danger.

It left him with only one choice.

He had to leave.

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A/N: Wow, over 5 pages long. Gosh, this took me a while to write. Anyway, may have a bit of CloTi next chapter, so I'm excited about writing that. R & R please. Later.

Shout-outs – 

Mako-Magic – Thanks again for agreeing with me. And thanks for liking my first fic. Good Luck with yours, can't wait fir your update.

Brutal2003 – Purpose of the dreams will be revealed soon. A couple of chapters away, maybe more. Just keep waiting.

Lady Logan – Hope you find time to read this. I'm a quick updater and thanks for reviewing.


	19. A Night To Remember

A/N: Hey guys. Total CloTi action here. Cleris fans, DON'T READ. Was meant to be a LEMON but I haven't wrote one before, so it has been taken out. But I hope this is good enough without it. I'm sure Jessica Holmes will like this chapter ;D

Note – If you read this fic with the music I suggest with inserts (which I doubt you do. I do when I'm writing the chapter), I suggest Cloud's Theme 'Interrupted By Fireworks' up to the '* * * * *'.

Summary – Squall, Cloud, Rinoa and Tifa investigate at the Nibelhiem Reactor. Cloud realises that he's putting his friends in danger by being around them. So he decides to leave.

Chapter 19 – A Night to Remember

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Tifa walked out of Kalm, dressed in her black skirt and a blue top. She had seen Cloud on the hills earlier but he had disappeared.

'Where is he?' she thought.

She walked through the forest south of Kalm, heading towards its centre. She thought she might find him here.

She reached the centre and a beautiful sight met her eyes. It was a large pond that was circled by trees. The only place where the water didn't reach was the side of the opening Tifa was at. She watched the water as the moonlight shone down upon it. She saw something hit the water, and she looked to the place where it had come from. She smiled as she saw Cloud standing there. He was trying to skip the stones across the water, but was failing miserably. She noticed that his large jacket was lying near a tree and he obviously didn't need it. Tifa walked up beside him.

"Hey Cloud." she greeted softly.

He turned to look at her, surprised that anyone had found him.

"Hey Tif. What are you doing here?"

"I was looking for you. I saw on the hills a few hours ago but then you vanished. I was worried."

"You don't need to be. I can take care of myself."

"That doesn't stop me from caring."

Cloud looked at her and saw that she really meant it.

"I guess you're right."

They both looked at the pond and a smile appeared across Cloud's face.

"You know where this place reminds me of?" he said, looking at Tifa again. She simply shook her head. "The place where we buried Aeris."

Tifa's smile vanished at this. She knew Cloud loved Aeris and missed her a lot. She and Aeris had been fighting for Cloud's heart. Aeris had won.

Cloud continued, not noticing Tifa's sadness. "I've always blamed myself for her death. But…I've started to realise, that she had to go."

Tifa looked up at him in surprise. She never thought she would hear Cloud say anything like that. She stayed silent as he kept talking.

"When it's our time to die…It's our time. That's what my Mom told me when I was a child. She told me again when before she died." he lowered his head, with a sad look on his face, as he remembered his mother. "It was Aeris' time. She had to go. She chose to. Without her sacrifice, the Planet would be gone. She would've died anyway."

He stopped there. He was finding this hard, Tifa knew that. He stayed silent as he watched the fish in the pond swim together. Tifa watched them too. She felt her happiness return as she stood side-by-side with Cloud. 

"I'm leaving Tifa." Cloud told her. "And I don't think I'll be coming back."

All the happiness that had come was drained out of her and a slight feeling of anger replaced it.

"Why!?" she asked, tears filling her eyes. "Why are you leaving?"

"Because as long as I'm here, everyone will be in danger. The Mako-Mutants can sense where I am. They'll keep following me."

"But we can fight. We can kill them and destroy all the reactors so no more are made."

"That's not the only reason."

"Well! What is!?" she nearly shouted. Tears were now starting to slide down her face. This was all his fault. He had broken her heart again. He was going to leave, just like he did at Nibelhiem.

He hesitated. "I…I can't…tell you Tif."

"Is it because of Squall and his friends? Is it because of the attacks? Is it because you're always in a foul mood?"

"No Tif. I can't tell you why." he said sadly.

"I don't get it!" she shouted, tears now pouring down her face as she got angrier and angrier at him. She hated him for doing this to her. "How could you do this to us!? To your friends!? To ME!?"

He didn't answer that time. Instead, he just looked away from her.

"You don't care about anyone do you!? How can you care if you keep hurting me like this!? I guess you were always right. You're just the weak, useless clone Sephiroth said you were. Just like the boy I knew from Nibelhiem!" And with that she turned her back on him and walked away.

Those last two remarks had hit Cloud like a bullet had been shot right through his heart. She thought that Sephiroth was right. Maybe he was. It just tore his heart apart to hear it come from the one person he loved the most. He lowered his head and shut his eyes, trying to hold back the tears which threatened to come out.

"Tifa! Please, WAIT!"

Tifa stopped just as she was about to leave. His voice sounded strangled, as if he was trying not to cry. She didn't turn round but he continued his plea.

"Don't…don't make this…any harder than…it already is." his face grew quieter towards the end of his sentence.

Tifa turned round to see him, facing the pond again. She could see his tears run down his cheek. She must've really hurt him. She had never seen Cloud cry before. Not even when Aeris had died. She suddenly felt heartbroken, to see him this upset. She slowly walked up to him and put her hand on his shoulder. He turned round, and his watery eyes looked into hers. Tifa stepped forwards and wrapped her arms around his neck. She put her head on his shoulder as he wrapped her arms around her.

"I'm so sorry Cloud." she sobbed. "I didn't mean what I said. I didn't mean any of it. I wish I could take it all back."

She continued to sob but Cloud didn't answer back. He just held her tighter, reassuring her that he had forgiven her.

They stood in each others arms for, what seemed like forever. Neither one wanted to let go, they wanted to stay like this.

They both pulled back from each other, but still in each others arms. They stared into each others eyes, their face centimetres apart. They both leaned forward and their lips met.

Tifa felt more tears come out of her eyes. She finally had him. He loved her, he really loved her. They kissed passionately and lowered each other to the ground.

Before they knew it…they had truly shown their feelings. Their souls had merged together and it would be a night they would never forget.

* * * * *

Insert – 'On The Other Side Of The Mountain' music

Cloud woke up next morning, feeling something warm curled up next to him. He looked down to see a naked Tifa and smiled. They were lying on the ground, using Cloud's jacket as a sort of duvet.

They had shown their true feelings for each other the previous night. Cloud thought that his timing couldn't have been any worse. He was leaving today. He didn't want to worry about his friends' safety every time the mutants attacked. If he didn't leave, he'd be putting his friends in danger. But if he did leave, he'd break Tifa's heart again. It was a no-win situation.

He snapped back to reality when he felt Tifa stir. She slowly opened her eyes and looked into his. Seeing her smile made him feel worse. If he left, he may never see that smile again. Or her beautiful eyes. There was so much he would miss.

"Morning Cloud." she greeted quietly.

"Morning Tif." he greeted back. Tifa sat up slightly and kissed him. She let her hands wander across his chest and shoulder blade, before breaking the kiss. She snuggled into him tighter than she had before. With Tifa next to him, if there was any cold wind, he couldn't feel it. She was so warm…he just wanted to stay here forever.

But he couldn't.

"C'mon Tifa. I gotta go."

Tifa didn't answer. Instead she held on to him tighter and whispered. "I don't want you to go."

"Tifa." he whispered back. He held her tightly against his bare chest. He heard her sob slightly, and kissed her forehead. "You know I've got to go."

She nodded and wiped her eyes. She sat up and they each reached over for their clothes.

* * * * *

Insert – 'Tifa's Theme' music

About an hour later, Cloud was preparing to leave. Tifa just stood near the pond the whole time. She held back her tears and the urge to beg him to take her with him. She knew he wouldn't let her go.

She didn't notice Cloud walking towards her until he put his hand on her shoulder. She flinched slightly, but she turned round and stared into his aqua-marine eyes. It was the last time that she might see them. She was upset about him leaving. But she was happy that he told her how he felt before he left.

She could barely hold back her tears. She wrapped her arms around his neck, not wanting to let go. Cloud hugged her back, and felt tears sting his own eyes. He pulled away slightly and kissed her.

They stood there for, what felt like, an eternity. Neither of them wanted to let go, but knew they had to. They broke the kiss when they heard Cloud's Neo Bahamut land behind them. Cloud looked back at Tifa with wet eyes. He grabbed her hand and wrapped her fingers around something. Tifa didn't look at it.

"Take care of this for me, okay?"

Tifa nodded while he took her other hand in his.

"And…and take care of yourself, and the others."

Tifa nodded again and squeezed the thing in her palm. Cloud started to walk away. Tifa held onto his hand as long as she could. But his slipped from hers as he got out of reach. The tears she had kept back silently poured down her face. Cloud climbed onto his Neo Bahamut and took off. With one last tearful look at Tifa, he flew off into the distance.

Tifa collapsed onto her knees and sobbed more than she ever had before. He was gone. The one person she had ever loved was gone. Maybe for good.

A/N: *SOB* *WAIL* NOOOOOO, he's gone. heh heh. not for long. whats the rest of AVALANCHE and the SeeD's gonna say. Find out soon.

Shout-outs –

Mako-Magic – I don't think Squall's gonna be too chuffed about Cloud leavin'. Find out soon.

cloudude55 – Sorry. I keep calling it the Highwind! I won't do that again. Promise.

Angelic-Princess-Rikku – Thanks. Glad you like it. I've always liked crossovers.

Fr33k S+Yl3 23 – Thanks for LOVING my fic. Its my first one so I'm happy to here that. You're free to contact me at any time. I'll be happy to chat.

Jessica Holmes – Sorry I'm such a fast updater. I can't help it. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, 'cause I did.


	20. Breaking The News

A/N: Hey guys. I'm back. I'm back. Okay…very small and very boring chapter coming up. A lot of talking and trying to understand. You may be able to skip this chapter.

NOTE – 1 of the Shout-outs may contain a tiny spoiler but it's not that important. It'll be obvious why in a few chapters.

Summary – After a small argument, Tifa and Cloud reveal their feelings for each other. Cloud realises what he's going to miss by leaving but he doesn't change his mind. He leaves something with a very, very upset Tifa, before flying off on his Neo Bahamut. How will the rest of AVALANCHE and the SeeD's take it?

Chapter 20 – Breaking The News

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Everyone was relaxing in Tifa's bar that morning, but two people were missing.

Cloud and Tifa.

Barrett sat at the bar, talking with Cid. They were both worried about their two friends. They had never disappeared over night without telling them. And what if the Mako-Mutants had got them. They both doubted that the pair could handle them by themselves.

Everyone else was chatting, sleeping or just doing their own thing. Both Irvine and Vincent were polishing their guns, quietly talking. Selphie and Yuffie were playing with Zell's Triple Triad cards. Yuffie learnt the game and had already bet Selphie several times. Squall sat on a couch, cleaning his Lionheart while Rinoa watched Angelo, who was trying to encourage Red XIII to play with her by pawing his head. Reeve stood in a corner, making some modifications to Cait Sith. Everyone else was still in bed.

Everyone turned towards the door as they heard someone walk in.

"TIFA!" Barrett shouted, going over and hugging her. She returned the hug and lowered her head, so he couldn't see the tear trails. "I'm glad your safe girl!" He noticed her looking down at the floor.

"Hey Tifa? You okay?" he asked her softly, and raised her face with his hand. As soon as he saw her face, he was full of concern. "What's wrong Tifa? What you been crying for?"

She didn't answer. She walked past him and walked to the stairs. But she was stopped by Cid placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey Tif." he whispered, "Where's Spike?"

Tifa looked at him. He could see that her eyes were watery again. Was it because he had mentioned Cloud? His question was answered straight away.

"He left Cid." she whispered back. "He left…and he's not coming back." She ran upstairs before Cid could say anything.

Cid was filled with shock. He couldn't believe Cloud had left. Especially with the Mako-Mutants around. He silently turned back to the others and decided to break the news.

* * * * *

Tifa reached her room, ran in and closed the door behind her. She didn't want to cry again. But she couldn't bare the pain that was inside of her. She lay down on her bed and shut her eyes, fighting the tears back.

That was when she realised that she still had something in her hand. It was the thing Cloud had told her to keep safe. She still didn't know what it was. She slowly opened her hand and saw a green Materia sphere. The name of it was written on the side.

'ULTIMA'

It was a very powerful and dangerous magic. It was also Cloud's favourite. She clasped her hand around it again and held it against her chest.

She finally broke down and sobbed into her pillow.

* * * * *

The large group of fourteen where silent that evening. Almost all of them had been upset or angered by the news.

"I canna believe the little bastard ran away!" Barrett growled angrily.

"He didn't leave because he wanted to Barrett." Vincent told him in a calm voice.

"The hell you sayin' Vince?"

"I'm saying…that Cloud knew that he HAD to leave. It was either that, or see every one of us die at the hands of the Mutants."

"But we woulda fought against them." Zell pointed out, punching one of his palms.

"That's true," Vincent agreed, "But we would eventually have lost. The Mutants were stronger, each time the attacked. Also, they would have known where we were, even if we went into hiding."

"How would they do that?" Quistis asked.

"Because of the Mako in Cloud's and the Mutant's bodies, they are able to 'Sense' each other, without the use of materia."

"WHAT!" Squall exclaimed. Everyone looked at him. "Did you just say Cloud has MAKO in his body!?"

"Yes."

"But how?" Rinoa asked. "Cloud told us that Mako was poisonous. Also that he knew that first-hand."

"If you are exposed to a high level of Mako, yes you can be poisoned." Vincent explained "Cloud was involved in an accident that gave him Mako-poisoning. But that's not important."

"Because of their ability to 'Sense' Cloud, they would attack us when the sensed him. And I don't think it's just Cloud they're trying to kill."

Everyone was confused at his statement. Who else would they want?

"Hey, hey. Me, me, me, me, me!" Selphie volunteered, waving her hand in the air.

"Yes, Selphie?"

"Remember what happened when the Sentinel was attacked. They only went for Cloud and Squall. When they got knocked off their Bahamuts, the Mutants flew away."

Everyone looked at Squall, they're question answered. But another question came to mind.

"But why would they want me?" Squall asked no one in particular.

"I don't know Squall…" Vincent said, "…but I have a feeling we're going to find out eventually."

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A/N: Sorry if this chapter was boring guys. I ran out of ideas for this one but I have some for Ch.21. There is a big gap in time between this chapter and the next. Stay tuned.

Shout-outs –

Fr33k S+Yl3 23 – Thanks again for the review. I was thinking of switching to Squall and Rinoa in the last chapter but I did say that it would be TOTAL CloTi. And don't worry. They'll see each other again.

Mako-Magic – I definitely wrote the last chapter with the idea of no one hearing her. I wonder what Squall would've done if he WAS nearby. Hmm? Probably kick the crap out of Cloud. Who knows?

KuramaHasPrettyEyes – I'm really sorry if my fic got you bored in the first few chapters. This is my first fic after all. But I'm glad you're starting to like it.

Natsu-Aoki – I hope you will continue reading this and thanks for the compliment.

cloudude55 – Well? How did your fic go? And thanks again for reviewing. You've reviewed almost every chapter.

Jessica Holmes – Well, Jessie I'm glad that I cheer you up. lol. Again, Chapter 4 of your fic was excellent. Good Luck with your GCSE's and, again, don't rush your update. Later.


	21. Months Gone By

A/N: Hey guys. Sorry for a boring chapter last time. Anyway. This chapter should be better but it is short.

Summary – Cloud had left Tifa, his favourite materia, ULTIMA. She gave the group the news and they didn't take it very well. They realise that he didn't want to go; also that Squall may be in danger too.

Chapter 21 – Months Gone By

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It had been four months since he had left. And Tifa was still thinking about him. How couldn't she? She loved him. She wondered where he was now. Was he safe? Were the Mako-Mutants still after him? Was he thinking of her? Every thought of him, made her miss him more. She wanted him back so badly. Did he mean it when he said that he won't be coming back?

Tifa lay on her bed, clutching Cloud's favourite materia to her chest. She stared at the ceiling, her head buzzing. She remembered their last night together. She had never felt so happy. So relaxed. She had wanted that night to last forever. It hadn't.

There was only was piece of him still with her. And it wasn't the materia.

She rubbed her hand over her, once, flat stomach. She looked as if she had started to gain weight, but that wasn't the case.

He was there. A part of him was there. And she knew that. It's what kept her sane. He was with her, right now. That was all she wanted. She wanted him to be there. No matter how small.

* * * * *

It was a summer. Lots of the kids in Kalm ran through the town, with ice-cream cones in their hands. A lot of cafes had tables under the shelters and people wore mostly shorts or skirts.

The Seventh Heaven was also very busy. They now served all their beer and alcohol chilled. Most of AVALANCHE had went back home. There had been no attacks since Cloud had left. Maybe he was right to leave.

The first month had been hard. A few of AVALANCHE had taken a while to cool their anger at him. But none of them were as upset as Tifa. She had been heartbroken. She hardly ate or spoke to anyone, and when she did, her sadness was apparent in her voice. But she had started to cheer up after that. No one knew why. They thought it would be months before she felt any better.

She was now, once again, running the Seventh Heaven. Barrett and Marlene had stayed behind, as did Squall and the others. Tifa usually had Irvine helping out behind the bar. He only volunteered because he liked to flirt with the female customers. Every time he did, earned him a smack on the head, from Selphie.

Also, the bar now served food, cooked by Tifa and Rinoa. They both had excellent cooking skills. The group of 8 (10 if you include Marlene and Angelo) had made the Seventh Heaven even more popular than before.

Squall and Rinoa were in the back room. They sat on the couch watching the television. Angelo slept at their feet and her tail was wagging.

Squall turned his head towards the stairs when he heard someone walking down them. He saw Tifa come into the room and go to the fridge. She brought out a packet of crisps. Zell walked in just as she opened them.

"Hey, you're gonna put on even more weight if you eat too much of them." he teased, pointing at her stomach.

"Yeah, like you with your hotdogs?"

Zell blushed slightly and Squall chuckled. Barrett walked into the room.

"Yo Tif. Ya ready ta get back ta work then?" he asked.

"You bet!"

* * * * *

Cloud lay on his bed in his Costa del Sol villa.

The heat from outside came in through the window, like it did everyday. The houses and villas here didn't need central heating because it was always warm, if not very hot.

He lay on his back, his eyes shut. He felt sweat form in his now, well-tanned skin. He had been there for almost half an hour. He continuously thought of Tifa, like he had done for the last four months. He hoped she was okay. He wondered how she was feeling. Was she angry? Upset? Or was she starting to cheer up?

He actually felt quite happy. There had been no news of any Mako-Mutant attacks since he had left. And for the he was grateful. He was sure that they were also after Squall. His headaches and nightmares had become rare. Everything was starting to settle down.

At least…that's what he thought!

He heard a loud scream, followed by a high-pitched screech, from outside. His eyes snapped open and he quickly got up and walked onto the balcony, which was outside his window. He gasped.

Several of the houses were in flames and a few bodies lay on the ground. He saw a very familiar monster chase after the civilians. Mako-Mutants.

Cloud walked back into his villa and grabbed his Ultima Weapon. He strapped it onto his back and started towards the door. He didn't get far before half a dozen mutants walked in. They snarled at him and slowly advanced. Cloud backed away and then sprinted to the balcony. He leapt over the railing and landed on the ground hard. He had jumped a good twenty feet and landed badly. He ran into the middle of the town and saw a mutant charge at him.

He drew his sword and swiped its head off easily. Behind him, the mutants that had charged into his villa chased him. He sliced open the first three and basted the others with Bolt3. They fell to the ground, paralyzed. Cloud was about to run, when he felt a large blast hit his back, sending him flying. He landed several feet from where he had bee, injured badly. He could feel blood running down his back, and he started to feel dizzy. Every few seconds he felt his energy being sucked out of him. He was poisoned.

But he didn't have time to cure it. He turned round and looked up to the sky to see dozens of aerial mutants above him. Each one of them charged their blast and shot it at him. He managed to dodge the first few but the poison was affecting his body. He was continuously hit, again and again, by the blasts.

As the last blast hit him, he felt the last of his energy disappear. He collapsed to the ground, still holding onto his Ultima Weapon. His chest, back and arms were bleeding badly, and the rest of him was bruised. Some of his skin was burnt and his clothes were shredded.

Two of the aerial mutants flew down next to him. One of them lifted him up, the other grabbed his sword. They took off and retreated. Their target acquired.

* * * * *

It was evening time, and everyone at the Seventh Heaven, were enjoying a meal together. They chatted happily to each other, and were also telling some jokes. Because it was so hot, they had ice-cream for desert and some ice coffee. After the meal, they all rested in the back room.

That was until Cid came.

Tifa saw the Sentinel land at the end of the town and she walked out the bar, to see Cid sprinting towards them. He looked very panicky.

"Cid. What is it? What's so urgent?" she asked.

"It's Costa del Sol." he said, gasping for breathe. "There's been another attack."

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A/N: Sorry this chapter was so short but I hope you liked it. Also…could you please read the Author Notes I've posted up. There's some info you may want to see. Later.

Shout-outs – 

Brutal2003 – Yeah sorry the chapter was short, but I'll make it up with later chapters.

KuramaHasPrettyEyes – Sorry can't answer your questions but keep reading, you'll find out in a few chapters.

Jessica Holmes – Glad you liked Chapter 19. I know how much you like CloTi's. And sorry I gave you a teary eye. LOL. And how can people flame your fic. They're mad! I'm anxiously awaiting the next chapter. Later.

Fr33k S+Yl3 23 – Thanks again Roxanne. Hope you enjoyed this chapter as well.


	22. Captured

A/N: Hey guys, I'm back from Uni and I brought a new chapter with me. I hope you like it.

Summary – Tifa isn't missing Cloud as much as she thought she would, and she knows why. Costa del Sol is attacked by Mako-Mutants and our beloved Cloud is attacked again. But he is beaten and is carried away by the mutants. Is he okay? How will the group take the news?

Chapter 22 - Captured

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The atmosphere was tense, in the Sentinel. The news of Costa del Sol being attacked had shaken them all up quite a bit. Everyone was nervous. The Mako-Mutants had started hunting again. And their strongest fighter was gone. How would they cope if they were attacked? No one was safe from them.

They were all worried that Costa del Sol may have been destroyed, and the citizens slaughtered. They were also concerned about a certain blonde spiky-haired friend.

As the airship rose over the Midgar Mountains, a huge cloud of grey from filled the sky. Flames rose from the town but the buildings were still standing. Everyone let out a small sigh of relief. They weren't too late.

Selphie and Cid sped up the ship and it darted to the town.

* * * * *

As Tifa stepped off the Sentinel, the stench of the smoke washed over her. She covered her mouth and nose, and looked around. There were lots of injured civilians on the ground. A few dead mutants lay on the ground. Tifa wondered who had killed them. She turned round to face the bar and saw several people trying to extinguish the flames. Tifa scanned the area again.

There were no mutants around. This made Tifa uneasy. They had received the warning only 5 minutes ago. Why would the mutants leave so suddenly?

Squall's orders brought her back to her senses.

"Quistis, call Leviathan. Have it use its Tidal Wave to put out the fires." She nodded and started her summoning. "You guys," he said, referring to Zell, Selphie and Irvine, "use your water magic to help."

As they ran off he turned to Rinoa.

"Rin, you can come with me. We're going to go round and help anyone we can with curative magic." She nodded and Squall turned to AVALANCHE.

Red XIII answered his question before he asked it.

"We'll help your friends."

"But you guys don't have water magic." Squall pointed out.

"That is true. But we can use a combination of Fire and Ice to put out the fires."

"Alright but we need to find out what happened as well."

"I'll take care of that." Tifa volunteered.

"Me too." Yuffie shouted.

"Okay. Go round, find, Cure and question anyone you can. Let's go." And with that they ran off.

* * * * *

Tifa and Yuffie ran through the streets, helping and questioning anyone they saw. No one knew much about why the mutants had attacked. They didn't even know what they were.

They eventually came to an elderly man whose leg was bleeding badly.

"Hang on sir. We'll fix this up for you." Yuffie told him, focusing her materia.

Thanks lass. But I wouldna be here if it weren't for that young lad who fought awa' some o' the monsters."

"Someone fought them?" Tifa asked in surprise.

"Oh aye lassie. He wis a very strong laddie, 'bout yer age ah'd say."

"Could you tell us what happened?"

"Aye sure. Ah'd love ta tell you young'uns."

"Yuff, could you get the others." Tifa asked her, but she was already gone. Tifa shrugged.

"You're sad." the old man blurted out.

Tifa turned round sharply. Why would he say that?

"You're upset." he told her simply. He had lost his accent and talked seriously. "You're missing someone. Someone close to you. Someone very dear."

Tifa hesitated. How did he know? Was it that obvious? She decided to tell him.

"Yes, I am sad. He was my boy…best friend," she quickly changed. She didn't feel like sharing her feeling with a stranger, "I miss him a lot."

The man remained silent. A few minutes later, they both heard a large group of people walking towards them. Yuffie ran up to Tifa.

"Got them. The fires are all out and everyone is fine." she told them happily.

"Weel that's braw news." the old man said his accent back to normal. "I'll tell ye whit happened shall ah?"

They all nodded and sat or kneeled down. The man took a deep breath and started.

"Weel, it was a braw sunny day, as always. A'body was mindin' their ain business and enjoyin' the day. Then a blast blew up an empty store hoose. The place wis up in flame straight awa'. Then a bunch o' mansters came runnin' doon the street. They wir breakin' in hooses and knockin' folk oot the way. I came oot ta see whit was goin' on. There wis a young lad in the villa above me, that came oot tae. Then he ran back in. Ah heard his door bein' broken doon and saw him jump aff the balcony. He didna land well but ah wisna surprised. His sword was a michty big ane."

Tifa quietly gasped, but she wasn't the only one. Most of AVALANCHE had worried looks on their face.

The man continued.

"The mansters attacked him but he beat them. I wis michty impressed. But he got blasted fae a big bunch o' the bird-mansters. He didna look weel efter that. Hardly able tae defend himsel', poor wee ane. They kept blastin' at him. A few missed like, but…he couldna keep it up. He fell tae the ground lookin' a richt mess. But he didna get up efter. They swooped doon, picked him up and flew off. Poor wee thing. I'd be surprised if he wis alive."

Tifa stood up and walked away. But she was close enough to here Squall ask the question, she didn't want an answer to.

"What…what did he…look like?" he asked slowly. He only asked this after he was sure Tifa wasn't listening. But she was.

The man took a deep breath before answering. He knew the reaction wouldn't be good.

"He wis small. 'Bout five and a half fit. He wore a SOLDIER uniform. He had spiky, blonde hair and bright blue eyes. He looked like a member o' that group that saved the planet."

There was a flood of tears coming out Tifa's eyes as he finished. She couldn't take this. Now he was gone for good. He was probably dead. She ran away from the group.

Squall looked round as he heard Tifa run away. She had been listening.

"Oh no." he whispered, his face in his hands.

The rest of them had grim looks on their faces. This news had hit them hard. Cloud's bravery had gotten him captured, probably killed. And he had done it for them.

"Come on." Cid said sadly. "Let's git back to the Sentinel and wait fer Tifa. She needs some time." They all nodded and followed him as he walked away.

"Hey, young lad." The man said to get Squall's attention.

Squall turned round and watched the man as he stood up and walked over.

"Keep an eye on the sad lass. She may be hidin' somethin'. You may want to know what it is." he finished as he walked away.

Squall stood in surprise and curiosity. Why would the man tell him something like that? He shrugged and walked to the Sentinel. He felt sorry for Tifa. She had just started to cheer up. She may never be happy again.

* * * * *

In a building far north, near Icicle Inn, a group of Mako-Mutants gathered together. Two of the mutants came forward, with Cloud hanging limply from their shoulders. They tossed him into a cell and locked the door.

Cloud slowly stirred. He looked around but he didn't recognise where he was. He remembered being in Costa del Sol, being blasted then falling unconscious. He was in a lot of pain, as none of his wounds had been healed. He slowly stood up, wincing in pain. He leaned against the wall for support and looked out the cell door window.

The corridor outside was dark. He also noticed that it was very cold. His breathe came out as steam and his body was shivering.

He was about to sit down, when his head was filled with a loud ringing noise. His head developed a big migraine and he clutched his head in pain. He felt his mind being penetrated and he heard a voice.

'We have you now Cloud. Don't even fight it. You're weak. Just like you used to be.'

'NO!!' he shouted mentally. 'I won't let you take control of me! I won't!'

'It is pointless Cloud.' the voice said again. It was him. The same person that was in his dream. The person he never wanted to see again. 'You're mine!'

Cloud screamed aloud in pain, as he felt him take over. His mind was broken and his body was no longer under his control. He collapsed onto the floor once again.

He had lost.

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A/N: Hope you liked it. Chapter 23 up very, very soon. What happened to Cloud? What will AVALANCHE and SeeD do? Will Tifa tell Squall her secret? Will I do my shout-outs? Yes I will. Find out the others soon.

Shout-outs -

Yuleen75 – Thanks for reviewing and I'm glad you like it.

Mahabaraba – It was a pleasure to read your fic and review it. It's very good. But update soon okay?

edenblack18 – Hope you didn't have to wait too long. And I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Peace out!

Jessica Holmes – Grrrr. You guessed. Man…I didn't want you to find out. LOL. That's okay, it was hard to try and not give it away but…oh well. And sorry but it wasn't a holiday. I still had to do work. A tiny bit of course. Hee Hee. And good luck with your update, I can't wait.


	23. The Secret Is Out

A/N: Hey guys. Here's chapter 23. Sorry that I left but I had a great time. Anyway…Ch.22 has been replaced with a new chapter so please read that before this. PLEASE!!! Do not read summary if you haven't read Ch.22.

Summary – The gang help Costa del Sol recover from the mutant attack. They find an old man who saw what happened. The news they gave them was upsetting, especially for Tifa. Cloud had been captured by the mutants.

Chapter 23 – The Secret Is Out

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Everyone was quiet. No one dared to speak of what had happened, or what they found out.

The news of Cloud's possible death had hit everyone hard. Even Squall, who didn't consider him as a friend, felt sorry for him. It was strange for Squall. When Cloud had left, the hostility towards him slipped away. Instead, he admired what Cloud had done. If they had switched places, Squall would have done the same thing. His friends meant more to him than anything. Because of his past…it had taken him some time to trust them. Now that he did, he never wanted to lose them. He was sure Cloud felt the same way.

But no one had taken the news harder than Tifa. Her and Cloud had become very close friends since he had joined AVALANCHE. Plus…she was the only one who stood by him when he went temporarily insane.

She had been in her room since they had gotten back. She had been crying most of the time…but she had eventually fallen asleep.

Squall was deep in thought once again.

Vincent had been right. The Mako-Mutants could sense Cloud anywhere he went. But if they wanted him dead…why did they capture him? Maybe they were going to torture him, to find out where Squall was. Or maybe it was something else.

But how are the mutants able to sense him. Apart from his glowing eyes, he seemed perfectly normal. Maybe it was because of his eyes. But Squall remembered what both he and Tifa had been quite secretive. What was he hiding that was so important?

And that old man at Costa del Sol. What did he mean? He said Tifa was hiding something. But was it that thing about Cloud? Or was it something else? He had to find out.

The others were all outside, trying to cheer up. Squall was the only one in the bar except Tifa. He got up out his seat and walked up the stairs. He felt slightly hesitant but he kept walking. He reached Tifa's door and grabbed the handle. He slowly opened the door and walked in.

Tifa was standing at the window looking out. From behind, Squall could see that she was clutching something to her chest. He slowly walked nearer and finally spoke.

"Tifa?" he said in a soft voice, "Are you okay?"

She laughed softly but sadly.

"Your more like him than you thought Squall." she said quietly.

Squall was taken aback by this. "Huh?"

"He was always the first person to check on me if I was upset. You two are more alike than I expected."

Squall stayed silent and Tifa continued.

"You're both swordsman. Excellent ones at that. You're both kind, caring and have leadership qualities. Also…" she laughed again, "…you were both loners."

"Zell…you're dead." Squall muttered quietly but Tifa heard him. She smiled.

"You're both stubborn too." she told him, still smiling.

"Hey…I am not stubborn!" Squall protested.

Tifa chuckled but carried on. "You're both strong and brave. And…your friends mean more to you than anything. You'd do anything for them…even if it cost you your life."

Squall looked at her sadly as he heard her quietly sobbing. He walked up to her and put a hand on her shoulder. She flinched slightly and turned round. Squall could see tear trails down her face. Just like Rinoa, she was very beautiful. But the tears took that away. The cheerful look Tifa usually wore was gone, and was replaced with grief and sadness. She came closer to him and wrapped her arms around him. Slightly surprised and uncomfortable, he returned it the hug.

Tifa felt strange holding Squall. She felt safe and secure, just like she did with Cloud. It was another similarity between them. More tears rolled down her cheeks. She missed him so much. And she felt guilty hugging Squall, while he may be dead. But she couldn't help it. She liked the feeling of having strong arms surround her and protect her. But it just wasn't the same.

Squall remembered why he had come up and decided to ask. But would it upset her even more?

"Tifa…there's something wrong isn't there?" he asked. Tifa stopped crying slightly to show she was listening. "There's something that's making the news harder to handle. Something that you're hiding from us."

Tifa started to get nervous. How did he know? Was it that old man?

"If you let it out Tifa…" Squall started, "…you might feel better."

Tifa let him go and walked over to the top of her bed. She sat at the headboard and brought her knees to her chest. Squall sat on the side of the bed and waited.

Tifa took a deep breath before starting.

"I've been hiding this for a few months now." she said slowly, "I didn't want to tell anyone…in case this happened."

She paused for a moment. Squall remained silent. This wasn't going to be good.

"I…I'm…I'm pregnant Squall." she whispered.

Squall stood up and walked to the window, a hand over his mouth. He sighed and, without turning to face her, asked her the question that mattered most.

"Is it his?"

He looked round and saw Tifa nod.

"Oh man." he sighed.

"It was intentional. It wasn't planned or anything…it just…happened." Tifa told him. Squall didn't answer so she went on in a low voice.

"I've been hiding my feelings for him…for so long. He was the same. The night he left…I went to see him. We talked but it led to an argument about him leaving. I said some horrible things and…he…he got really upset. I had hurt his feelings…something that I never wanted to do. We couldn't hold in our feelings any longer. I had to tell him…in case I never saw him again. I regret not stopping him…not persuading him to stay. But he did it for me…me and the others. He was endangering us…just by being there. I…I just never thought…that…telling him…was cause me this much pain. All because of one stupid mistake."

She couldn't go on. She cried into her knees, letting it all come out.

"That's why you cheered up wasn't it?" Squall asked. Tifa looked up, tears still flowing down her cheeks. "You were sad for the first month. After that…you really started to cheer up.  Is that because you found out."

"Yes. I didn't miss him as much anymore. I had this feeling that he wqas okay…so I didn't worry about him. But now…" she trailed off.

Squall turned round and walked towards the bed. He sat down next to her and look her in the eyes. She looked back.

"If he's alive, we'll find him. I promise. Then you can tell him."

Tifa smiled and hugged him again.

"Thank you Squall." she whispered.

Squall nodded and stood up. He walked to the door and opened it.

"Squall."

He stood by the door and looked back. She was smiling.

"You were right. I do feel better."

Squall smiled back and walked out, shutting the door. He turned towards the stair and saw Rinoa.

"Is she okay?" Rinoa asked.

"Yeah." he answered, nodding and looking at the door. "She's going to be fine."

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A/N: Well…that was a lot of talking eh? Hope you liked it though. We're nearing the end of this fic. Maybe 6 or 7 more chapters to go. Anyway…R & R please.

Shout-outs –

Fr33k S+Yl3 23 – Don't worry…I won't tell. If you review…thanks very much.

Jessica Holmes – Well Jess…now everyone knows. Shame you found out sooner eh? LOL.


	24. Their Location Is Found

A/N: Hey guys. I'm updating quick to make up for lost time so here goes. Not long till the end of my fic. But don't worry; there will probably be a sequel. I don't know.

Summary – Squall comforts Tifa and persuades her to0 share her secret. Tifa is pregnant, and Cloud is the father. Squall makes a promise to Tifa. If Cloud was alive, they'd find him. He didn't know that it may be sooner than he thinks.

Chapter 24 – Their Location Is Found

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Insert 'Reunion' music

She was in a black void. She looked around, but she couldn't see anything. There was nothing but darkness. She was frightened.

'Where…where am I?' she thought. Her thought echoed in the void, which sent chills down her spine.

She walked around, trying to find some clue as to where she was. There was nothing.

She walked, for what seemed like hours. In the darkness, she could make out a figure in the distance. They looked very familiar. She gasped and smiled when she recognised the spiky hair and huge sword.

"CLOUD!" she shouted. She was filled with joy over finding him. She ran to him and stood behind him. "Cloud?" she whispered.

He slowly turned round to face her. Tifa gasped. He was covered with deep cuts, burns and bruises. His forehead was bleeding badly and the blood ran down his face.

"Cloud, what happened to you?" she asked in a scared voice.

He looked as if he was going to pass out, but he spoke quickly.

"I'm sorry Teef." he said quietly. Tifa became very scared, "I couldn't stop them." As he finished, his eyes shut and he collapsed to the floor.

"Cloud!" Tifa yelled as she kneeled down next to him. His head was turned away from her, so she couldn't see his face. Instead she shook him from behind, "Cloud…" she pleaded with teary eyes, "…Please! Get Up!"

She heard two voices, laughing. One sounded cold, and evil. It was a male voice. The other was the same but feminine.

"Who's there?" she asked, frightened.

The two figures came out of the darkness opposite her and Cloud. One was, as she suspected, a woman. She had black markings on her face and her silver her flowing out behind her. Her bright yellow eyes scared Tifa. The second figure was a man. His silver hair strayed over his face and his piercing green eyes were filled with evil. This was the person who haunted both Tifa's and Cloud's dreams. It was Sephiroth.

"H…how?" Tifa stuttered, "It…it can't be."

He spoke in an icy voice. "Yes it can, my dear. Now we can both get revenge on our killers."

On the floor, Cloud started to get up.

"Cloud. Get away from them!" Tifa warned him.

But as he stood, he turned towards them. He walked forward until he was beside Sephiroth.

"Cloud?"

Sephiroth looked at Cloud.

"Cloud is my puppet once again Miss Lockhart. You were right when you said he was weak."

Tifa shook her head as she felt tears roll down her face. Cloud slowly started to turn round. His eyes were shut and he was facing downwards. His wounds were gone; there were no blood stains at all. He lifted his head and his eyes snapped open. Tifa gasped and stepped back in fear. His eyes matched Sephiroth's. They were piercing green and showed no happiness in them like they used to.

Tifa kept shaking her, not believing what she was seeing. This couldn't be the Cloud she knew, the man she loved, the father to her unborn child. She backed away, whispering.

"No. No. No. This…this can't be real."

"Oh…I think you'll find that it is." Cloud said. His voice wasn't normal. It contained another. It contained Sephiroth's voice.

Tifa turned and ran, as fast as she could, away from the trio. She ran and ran, through the darkness. She stopped when she started to see flashbacks of all that had happened in her life. Her mother dying, Nibelhiem being burnt, the Weapon's rising out of Northern Cave, the Mako-Mutants attacking Kalm, Cloud leaving on his summon monsters.

"STOP!!! STOP!!! STOP!!!" She screamed. She didn't want to see this. She kept screaming till she heard an urgent voice.

* * * * *

"TIFA! Wake up!"

Tifa yelled as she woke from her nightmare. Her eyes snapped open and she saw Squall looking down at her, concerned.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Yeah. I…I think so."

"Okay, I'll tell the others you're awake. We're going to Rocket Town today, to see Shera."

"Right."

Squall nodded and walked out of the room. Tifa sat up and rubbed her head.

It was only a nightmare. Or was it? It seemed so real. A part of her told her it was a dream, the other told her it wasn't

If it was…that meant Cloud was alive. But he was in trouble. They had to get him back. And she would help. No matter what.

* * * * *

They reached Rocket Town about midday. Tifa and Rinoa had set up meals for everyone while the rest talked. They told Shera of the attacks and of Cloud going missing. She was just as shocked as everyone else.

"You can't be serious!?" she asked as they told her. "Cloud was kidnapped?"

"Yes." Red XIII answered, "And unfortunately, we have no idea where they have taken him."

"But there must be someplace where they gather." Quistis said, "You know…somewhere they attack from."

"You mean like a hideout?" Zell asked.

"Yes. When they next attack…if they do…follow them and they'll lead us to it."

"That is a very good idea Quistis." Vincent said, "But there have been no attacks since Cloud's disappearance. I thought they might have started to search for Squall. They seem to want him too."

"Maybe they're waiting for him to come to them." Yuffie suggested, "You know…like a sort of trap."

"That's true." Irvine told them, "But what sort of trap could they come up with. I mean…they're just monsters."

"Not exactly…" Red XIII argued, "They seem more coordinated than that. I think they may be under orders from something…or someone."

Everyone stopped after that, because Tifa and Rinoa had come through with food. None of them wanted either of the girls to hear what they were talking about. But they hadn't done very well.

* * * * *

Tifa walked outside after the meal. She walked to the beach north of the town. It was only about a miles walk so she was there in no time.

She had been thinking about her dream all day. Seeing Cloud like that really scared her. Seeing Sephiroth again made it ten times worse. He had Cloud under control again. But how? Cloud didn't have his personality split anymore. Maybe it was that women. Maybe she was helping him somehow.

Tifa grew more and more concerned for Cloud. She looked up at the sky.

'Please…please…let him be alright.' she pleaded mentally, 'Let me find him…I can't stand this. I just want him back. Back with me.'

Tifa lowered her slightly head and looked towards the horizon. What she saw made her heart miss a beat.

Coming from the Northern Continent, were dozens of aerial Mako-Mutants. She saw an even larger one near the front. It was almost three times the size of the others. She started to retreat slowly but that quickly turned into a sprint, as she raced towards Rocket Town.

* * * * *

Squall sat on the coach, listening to the others conversation. He didn't have any ideas about the situation. He didn't care if they got him, as long as his friends were okay that's all that mattered. And those mutants won't be taking him without a fight.

He looked up when he felt someone sit next to him.

"You thinking again?" Rinoa asked.

Squall simply nodded and she cuddled into him, wrapping her arms around his waist and laying her head on his shoulder.

"You know what's weird…" Squall started. Rinoa looked up at him and saw him smile, "…we've been so caught up in this mutant business; that we still haven't tried to find a way home."

Rinoa nodded in agreement. "Are you missing Garden?"

"A bit but…not as much as I thought I would. This place feels more like home for some reason. I can relax more here."

"Maybe it's because you've got responsibilities in Garden. As Commander, you're under a lot of stress. And these guys don't look up to you as a leader. They look up to Cloud."

Squall nodded, realising that she had a good point. From what he had learned, both he and Cloud had been the leader of their group for over a year now. Cloud must be able to handle it easier because he was older. Or maybe it was because Squall had lived most his life as a loner. 

"Yeah, you're right."

Rinoa leaned up and kissed his cheek. He turned his head and kissed her back. Their lips were locked together until they heard someone almost crash right through the door.

There stood a very flushed Tifa, she was panting from sprinting a mile.

"Yo Teef's! S'up?" Cid asked her.

"They're here. The Mako-Mutants. They're flying this way."

Everyone suddenly stood up and rushed outside. They each gasped as they saw the large pack of mutants. Their eyes widened even more when they saw the largest one. Squall stood in front of the others. The largest one looked very familiar. He saw a human on it but he couldn't make them out.

They didn't waste any time getting ready for the attack. Vincent, Irvine, Reeve and Barret loaded their guns and aimed.

Zell, Squall, Quistis, Cid and Yuffie, brought forward their Summons and GF's. Zell climbed onto his Quezacotl, Quistis and Yuffie climbed onto the Phoenix. Cid pulled himself onto his Bahamut. Before Squall mounted his GF, he walked over to Tifa.

"Tifa you need to stay out of this." he told her.

"But I want to help!" she protested.

"You can't! Not in your condition." he pointed out.

Tifa lowered her head, defeated. She nodded and Squall mounted his Bahamut. The five flying monsters took off and flew up high. When they were level with the mutants they stopped.

They each drew their weapons and readied their magic. The mutants charged. They darted past the monsters and swiped at anything they could reach. Down below, Rinoa used her Sorceress powers, to cast Protect on everyone. She then started firing Tornado spells to knock several mutants out of the air. The summons and GF's were using their elements and special attacks to defend themselves, and their riders used their weapons to help.

Everyone worked as a team. The gunners shot down any mutants that headed for Rocket Town while Red XIII, Selphie and Rinoa protected and healed everyone that was fighting in the air. Tifa stayed at the back, using Turbo Ethers to replenish everyone's magical energy. The others just kept attacking. In a few minutes, more than half of the mutants had fallen. They were slowly outnumbering them.

But the largest one wasn't attacking. The creature was standing on a cliff, far from the fight. Squall broke of from the fight and flew towards it. He stopped as the creature's shape became more noticeable. Squall gasped as he recognised it.

'Holy hell!' his mind screamed, 'That's Cloud's Neo Bahamut.'

The rider on Neo Bahamut wore a dark black cloak. His hood was up to conceal his face. He looked up and Squall noticed that he had bright green eyes. They were easily noticed through the darkness his hood provided. The summon rose into the sky and flew off towards the Northern Continent. Squall was disappointed. It wasn't Cloud on the Bahamut. He was about to turn back to the others when he remembered what Quistis had said earlier.

'There must be someplace where they gather. When they next attack…if they do…follow them and they'll lead us to it.'

Squall decided to go along with Quistis' idea and he followed. He kept a safe distance away from him and saw in suddenly dive down. Squall's Bahamut sped up and flew up to where he had disappeared. There was a small crater that went deep into the ground. In the wall, Squall could see a small hole, large enough to fit a Neo Bahamut in.

Squall smiled and flew back to his friends.

They had knew where they came from. There location was found.

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A/N: Hey guys, hope you liked this. Hey I just found something to recommend. Visit and scroll down. You can get every piece of music (apart from Trust Me) from FF8 for Realplayer. Download the remixes, they're brill. Especially Maybe I'm A Lion.

Shout-outs –

Fr33k S+Yl3 23 – Sorry Roxie, I can't tell you if it will be a boy or a girl. Wait till the sequel to find out. I hope you'll read the sequel. Anyway…I get the joke about being haunted in 10 years. And don't treat me like a god. I'll blush. LOL Oh and thanks for putting me on your fav authors list. Means a lot.

Brutal2003 – I usually find the big chatty bits boring. I'm more into stories where there's action most of the time. Glad you liked it though…if you did.

Jessica Holmes – Oh my god, Oh my god, Oh my god, Oh my god! You're going to update. *SQUEAL* I can't wait. LOL. Is it When Heart rules over Mind or is it your other one? That's another question. When you gonna update Near death brings new hope? I've been waiting for ages 'cause it's good. I can't wait to see it from Cloud's POV. And you're right…Cloud Jr. does sound kinda cute eh? ;D

Angelus' girl0-07 – I'm glad you like it. And thanks for putting me on your favs list.

CrystalTyres – Thanks for reviewing. I was thinking of putting Seifer in at the start but I decided against it. I didn't really have a part for him in the story.


	25. Going In

A/N: Here's chapter 25. I've only received two reviews for ch.24.  I hate being a fast updater. But this one wasn't as quick…sorry. Speaking of updates. JESSIE! YOU didn't update When Heart Rules over Mind! GRRRR! Lol. It's okay. Here's ch.25.

Summary – Rocket Town is attacked by Mako-Mutants and the group fight to protect it. Squall goes after the largest monster but realises that it isn't a mutant. It's Cloud's Neo Bahamut. Squall can't recognise the cloaked rider but follows him to Northern Continent on his Bahamut. The Neo Bahamut flies down a crater and into a building. Squall has discovered their hideout. But a surprise is waiting for them.

Chapter 25 – Going In

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"Are you sure Squall?" Rinoa asked.

"Definitely!"

They were all in the Sentinel. Squall had just told them what he had found.

"Wit we gonna do then?" Cid asked.

"Not all of us can go down. The crater is too small for the Sentinel to fit in. That's guys Neo Bahamut barely got through."

"WHAT!" Tifa said in surprise. Everyone turned to look at her. "But Cloud is the only one on this planet with a Neo Bahamut."

Squall nodded. "I know. I think they may have him captured there too."

"So who's gonna go?" Cid asked. No one answered straight away.

"I'm going." Squall said.

"Me too!" Rinoa said, looking at Squall. He looked at her and nodded.

"I'm coming with you." Tifa insisted. Squall was about to argue but he remembered that Tifa didn't want the group to know her secret.

"You ain't goin' nowhere without me!" Barret said loudly. "Let's get ol' Spike back where he belongs."

"We're coming too!" Zell shouted as he and Cid stood up.

"Cid don't you need to fly the Sentinel?" Tifa asked.

"Nah. Selphie and Irvine will tak' care o' it."

"Alright guys! Let's go!" Barret shouted and they all went to the deck of the Sentinel.

* * * * *

Soon, two Bahamut's and a Quezacotl were flying down the crater. They had told Selphie to stay at Rocket Town. The appearance of the Sentinel would alert the mutants to attack. That was something they didn't want.

The three creatures landed softly just outside the building and their ridings slipped off their backs.

Squall looked at the building closely. It looked like an old warehouse. The walls were made of wood and the windows were boarded up. It looked very small. Squall couldn't believe that all the Mako-Mutants they had fought came from here. He shrugged and signalled the others to follow him.

Tifa felt both scared and anxious. She wanted to see Cloud again, badly. But she then remembered her dream. What if it had been real? What if Cloud really was Sephiroth's puppet? What would happen to them? She hadn't told anyone about it. In case it really was just a dream.

The group walked in and a horrible stench reached their noses. They each tried to ignore it and continued through the room. It was empty except for a small elevator near the back wall.

They slowly entered it and pressed the only button to go down. The elevator would have easily fitted everyone in AVALANCHE in it. They all waited nervously as the lift descended.

Squall wondered what was down there. Was there a huge army of Mako-Mutants, waiting for them? Was the person responsible for the attacks there? His thoughts were cut short as the lift stopped.

The door opened and everyone gasped.

The room was huge. It looked like a sort of laboratory. They saw dozens of pods on either wall and creatures were inside.

Squall realised that they were the same pods he had seen in the Mako Reactor. And they also housed the Mako-Mutants. But there was no one in here. He saw a door at the other end of the room.

"C'mon, let's check in there." he told the others and he walked to it.

When everyone had gone through the door, it shut on its own. Everyone snapped there heads round. They were expected. They looked round the room. The room was totally empty. There was a large gate at one end of the room and a door was next to it. They started to walk to it when they heard a voice.

"_Glad to see you made it down safely."_

They all looked round in surprise but there was no one there.

"Where are you!?" Squall shouted.

The voice spoke again, and it sounded like a radio.

"_Don't worry Leonhart. You'll find out soon. But first I want to test you."_

"What do you mean?"

_"You'll have three fights. If you make it through alive…you'll be worthy to meet us."_

"Us?"

_"First, we'll test your strength."_

Suddenly, the large gate opened, and a loud roar was heard. As the monster walked out, Squall could feel the ground shake beneath him. It walked out of the shadows of the gate, showing its yellow skin, its large horns and large tail. A King Behemoth.

Squall remembered this creature from Gold Saucer. Cloud had fought one and it had nearly killed him. But Cloud had already been in a bad state, Squall thought they would have a pretty good chance of beating it.

Squall unsheathed his Lionheart and held it in front of him. Cid took his spear from his back as Barret readied his gun. Rinoa junctioned her magic and stayed at the back with Tifa, who was ready with items. Zell walked up next to Squall and raised his fists.

The King Behemoth swung its tail round, attempting to hit the male members of the group. They all jumped and advanced, except Barret. Squall jumped and grabbed onto one of its horns. He then thrust his Gunblade into its eye and pulled the trigger. The Behemoth screamed in pain and shook Squall off. He landed hard on his back, and realised that his gunblade was still in its eye. The monster raised its claw and tried to crush him. But Squall rolled away and its foot landed mere inches away from him.

Cid and Zell had already climbed onto the Behemoth and were now trying to penetrate the creature's skull. It was oblivious to them as Cid's spear and Zell's fists continuously jabbed at the same spot over and over. But it couldn't ignore Barret. He was blasting away at the creature's tail, to take away its only long range attack. He was so busy that he didn't notice that a black cloud loomed at the top of the room. Through the cloud came several, flaming comets heading straight for him. He didn't notice it…but Rinoa did. She cast Reflect on Barret and the comets bounced off it. They then backfired and struck the Behemoth. They singed its skin and left huge wounds where they had hit.

Cid finally managed to strike his spear through its skull and into its brain. The Behemoth shrieked but it quickly stopped and collapsed, very dead. Squall walked up and removed his Gunblade and Cid withdrew his spear.

As soon as the creature had fallen, another came through the gate. This one sounded even larger and even stronger. As it came out the gate, they could make out the monsters large red wings and long tail. Spikes trailed down its back and long claws owned its short, but thick arms.

"A Dark Dragon." Cid told them. Squall nodded. The monster reminded him of a T-Rexaur, but it was more dangerous and scary looking.

The Dark Dragon rose onto its black legs and shrieked. Everyone had to cover their ears because of the noise, but it didn't help much. Squall scrunched up his eyes and tried his best to block out the sound. He opened his eyes to see a green fog surrounding the dragon. He recognised it instantly.

"Get out the way!" he shouted to them, "It's about to use Ultima!"

But no one could get out the way in time, so they were all blasted to the ground. Squall quickly got up and cast Cure3-all, healing everyone. He then turned and snarled at the Dragon before rushing forward. He ducked underneath its arm, as it swiped at him, and sliced its underbelly. The blade only just got through the monsters tough skin, but blood sprayed out of the wound.

Cid threw his spear and it impaled the Dragon's chest, causing it to shriek loudly again. Zell quickly shut it up by upper-cutting its jaw. In return, he got clawed down his chest. Barret rapidly shot at the creatures arm. As a result, it eventually fell off. Rinoa signalled all of them to move away. They rushed back to the group. Squall lifted Zell and carried him over. Rinoa blasted the weakened Dragon with an Apocalypse spell and it fell dead on the floor.

They all cheered and whooped. Tifa drew out a Megalixir and passed it to everyone. They were all healed instantly. They noticed that the door across the room opened, so they all dashed to it.

Squall was actually filled with excitement. One more fight. They had already defeated two powerful monsters without much fuss. How hard could this battle be?

The door shut behind them and they looked around the room anxiously. They heard the voice again.

_"Congratulations. Two fights that were won easily. I think you'll find this fight to be more difficult."_

"Yeah! You keep telling yourself that pal!" Squall shouted confidently, "We'll toast anything that you through against us!"

They heard the person laugh as Squall finished.

_"No…I assure you. This fight won't be as easy as you think."_

Squall saw another gate open, but this one was considerably smaller than the last one. He heard footsteps from inside the gate. Squall tensed. The next fight was against a human.

The footsteps got louder as the person came closer. Through the shadows, Squall couldn't make out their opponent. But everyone's eyes widened with shock as he stepped out of the gate.

His opponents eyes narrowed and he smirked when he noticed their disbelief.

"Oh no." Tifa whispered.

"No way!" Zell shouted.

"It can't be!" Squall gasped.

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Shout-outs – 

no one – I may have Bahamut Zero next chapter…I may not. Wait and see.


	26. Once A Friend, Now An Enemy

A/N: Hey guys. Sorry this took a few days to put up but I've been thinking about it a lot. This fic will finish in about 4 or 5, maybe even 6, chapters but there will be a sequel. Read it if you want but I don't think it will be as good as this. I'm surprised really…I've had almost 100 reviews for my first fic. YEAH!! Anyway…oh yeah now I remember. If you wanna check out my ideas for later fics check my profile. It's got a new look and more fics. Okay, hope you enjoy.

Summary – Squall, Rinoa, Barret, Cid, Zell and Tifa entered the mutant's hideout. They were forced into two battles against dangerous monsters but came through without to much injury. Now for the third fight, against someone they didn't expect.

Chapter 26 – Once A Friend, Now An Enemy

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"Cloud!?" Tifa shouted.

Something was wrong. This wasn't the Cloud she knew. Cloud wouldn't attack them, even if he wanted to. He wouldn't work for Sephiroth. And he certainly wouldn't have bright green eyes.

She thought back to the dream she had had. When he had been covered in blood, his eyes were normal. But when he had gotten back up, they had changed. Was it because of Sephiroth's control over him? It had never been so noticeable when Sephiroth had made him hand over the Black Materia. She had only realised when he had started talking weird.

"You guys don't look happy to see me." Cloud said with a laugh.

His voice scared Squall. Because the last time he had heard it, the situation had made everything worse. Cloud had the same double voice like he did in Squall's dream. Something was wrong.

"Cloud…what are you doing here?" Rinoa asked in surprise.

"Am I not allowed to greet my friends?" he answered, with an evil smile.

Tifa got furious. She wouldn't let this happen to Cloud. Last time, it had nearly gotten the planet destroyed.

"Sephiroth! Stop it! Let him go!" she screamed. Everyone including Cloud looked at her in surprise.

Squall realised something. The double voice, the eyes, Sephiroth, his clone, Cloud blaming himself for Aeris' death, Cloud's secret. It was all coming together.

Squall turned to Cloud. "You've taken control of him, haven't you?" he asked Sephiroth angrily.

Sephiroth laughed. "You've finally realised that Cloud is my clone. He was the one who gave me the Black Materia. He was the one who nearly killed that pathetic Cetra. He's the one who led you here. Remember?"

"The rider on the Neo Bahamut." Squall whispered

"Yes. You fell for our trap. But we expected you to come alone. So we could destroy both of you in peace."

"Both of us?"

"Do you really think I would come back…and not have my rival pay for destroying me? Do you think Ultimecia will let you stay alive?"

"Ultimecia!?" Squall asked, wide eyed.

"Yes. I'm not able to take control of Cloud with my own powers. Not anymore. I needed help. That help is Ultimecia."

Squall could feel rage, boiling inside of him. The situation was bad. If he didn't kill Cloud, he wouldn't be able to get to Sephiroth and Ultimecia. But if he did kill Cloud…Tifa would never forgive him. It was Cloud's child…would Tifa maybe kill herself? He wanted to yell out but that wouldn't help.

"This is becoming boring." Cloud blurted out. He took his Ultima Weapon off his back and held it in one hand. "If you're not going to put up a fight…I might as well kill you now." he finished as he ran forward.

Squall barely had time to draw his Lionheart. He blocked the slash to his head and leapt away from him. Zell ran forward and aimed a punch at Cloud's head, but missed. Cloud retaliated with an elbow to his stomach and hit his head with the handle of his sword. Zell fell to the floor, unconscious. Cid yelled in anger and ran forward. He jabbed his spear at Cloud, just as Squall swung at his head. 

Squall knew Cloud would get hit by one of their attacks. But he gasped in horror as Cloud grabbed Cid's spear just above the blade and blocked Squall's attack. He pulled the spear towards him, bringing Cid with it. He let go and jabbed Cid's face, breaking his nose and knocking him unconscious. As he fell, Cloud swept Squall off his feet, causing him to land hard on the floor. Squall felt dizzy since he had hit the floor head first. He saw Cloud raise his sword to finish him off but he stopped. He turned round and brought his sword up to his chest.

Squall heard the ring of bullets hitting his sword, courtesy of Barret's gun arm. Cloud glared at him and held out his hand. Barret was then surrounded by a huge rock. He was stuck inside until it shattered. Barret fell to the floor, frozen solid. Cloud smirked but it didn't last long. He was struck by lightning and he staggered. Rinoa then began rapidly firing spells at him. He was hit by ice, fire, lightning, water and wind. He fell to the floor, with nothing but a few scratches and bruises.

Squall grabbed his Lionheart and started to get up. Cloud leapt up and raised his hand once again. Rinoa was engulfed by a large ball of flames. She screamed in pain as the heat built up. Squall's anger rose and he charged at Cloud, tackling him to the floor. The spell wore off but Rinoa collapsed. She wasn't dead but she was weak. Tifa ran over to her and took out an X-Potion.

Cloud knocked Squall off him and grabbed his sword. He saw Tifa kneeling next to Rinoa. He raised his hand and Tifa started to feel woozy. She dropped the potion and it shattered, while she fell to the floor, sleeping. Cloud looked at his hand in surprise. Sephiroth had wanted to use another 'Flare' spell but he had used 'Sleepel' instead. What had happened?

Squall stood up and ran over to Cloud, gunblade raised. Cloud turned round but didn't have time to raise his sword. He tried to dodge the attack but didn't totally succeed. He felt a sharp pain and looked at his arm, noticing a small cut. Cloud attacked Squall but he was ready.

The two attacked and blocked each other. The only person he had ever been this evenly matched with was Seifer. Squall was quickly beginning to tire while Cloud just kept on attacking furiously. Squall began to speed up his attacks and use more strength like he had done in their first fight. Only this time he wasn't going down so easily. 

Squall attacked Cloud, getting past his guard and Cloud tried to dodge. But he staggered and earned a slash at his rib.

'Since when had he become so clumsy?' Squall thought. Cloud was more focused than this and he easily could have dodged that attack.

'What's going on!?' Sephiroth yelled in Cloud's head. 'His body is becoming hard to control!'

Cloud swung at Squall, catching him off-guard. The slash struck him in the rib, cutting deep into his skin. He yelled as two others struck his left thigh and chest. Cloud kicked him in the stomach, knocking him to the floor.

Meanwhile, Tifa had just woken up. She heard Squall yell and fall to the floor. She looked over to see Cloud towering over him.

"You're pathetic Leonhart. Just like Strife." he said. He raised his hand and electricity filled his palm. Squall tried to sit up, only to be electrocuted.

Squall yelped and squirmed in pain. It was worse than a normal lightning spell. Much worse. His body felt like it was on fire, and the sting ran through his body. Cloud stopped and smiled. Squall lay down, panting and smoke came from his body. His clothes had been singed in some places.

"You see…I could kill you easily.  Even without my powers Cloud could kill you. That's why you're fighting, to prove that you're the strongest. But you're weak…and you don't want to admit it."

"Fuck you."

"What!" Cloud said angrily. Squall sat up and looked straight into his eyes.

"I said, fuck you!"

Big mistake. Squall felt another surge of electricity run through him, this time it was a lot stronger. He yelled even louder than before and he felt like his insides were melting.

Cloud finally stopped, several moments later. He looked down at Squall and smirked.

"Time to put you out of your misery." he said. He raised his sword and aimed it for Squall chest. Squall shut his eyes. There was nothing he could do. He was too weak to even lift his Gunblade.

Cloud stuck down and Squall waited for the pain to rush through his chest. Instead he only got a huge surprise when Cloud's blade pierced into the ground, inches from hi head. He looked back up at Cloud and saw him clutching his head in agony.

"What's going on!? What's happening!?" Cloud yelled. His eyes were tight shut, trying to stop his head from exploding. When he opened them, Squall noticed that their original bright blue colour was back.

Squall smiled and relief filled him.

Cloud was back in control.

---------------------------------

A/N: Whew that took a while to write. Sorry for not putting in Bahamut ZERO if anyone wanted me to. Oh and did you catch the 'Flare' and 'Break' spells I put in :) Next chapter will be up soon I promise. Later.

Shout-outs –

Fr33k S+Yl3 23 – Yeah I'm a fast updated and I hope you enjoyed this chapter. And I'm looking forward to your fic. Ta for giving me a dedication or something…I can't remember.

KuramaHasPrettyEyes – So you enjoy fighting scenes. Well I hope you enjoyed this chapter at least. And that 'too depressed to go to bed' thing was kinda weird. LOL

Yuleen75 – Hey…I don't hate you. Why would you think that?

Ric Leonhart – I'm glad you like this. I wasn't sure that anyone would like this when I started the fic but I'm happy, happy. And sorry that I didn't have Bahamut ZERO in this chapter but he just didn't fit in anywhere. We'll be getting a Lionheart though.

Jessica Holmes – Hey Jessie. Sorry but I like cliff-hangers, I can't help it. And I just gave you another one…how terrible am I eh? :) And don't worry…if you thought that it was Cloud…you weren't the only one that guessed. And don't rush your update. Actually…it was a good idea to update your other fic. Good move. And thanks for putting me on your favs list. Makes me soooo happy :D


	27. Fighting Two Battles

A/N: Hi guys. Happy Easter and here's chapter 27. I have a brand new story up…located in the Final Fantasy Crossovers area. Read if you want, Chapter 2 of that will soon be up. Anyway we're nearly finished with this fic. It will be ending soon. Sorry…

Summary – The gang fight Cloud, but his increased strength and agility give him the advantage. When it's just Squall and Cloud, they appeared to be in a stalemate. But once caught off-guard, Squall is electrocuted. Cloud goes to finish him off but misses. Why? Because Cloud is fighting Sephiroth's control. Will he succeed?

Chapter 27 – Fighting Two Battles

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Squall watched in horror as Cloud began to walk backwards further away from him. His face was scrunched up because of the pain. He fought hard to keep Sephiroth out of his head.

"No! I won't let you control me anymore!" he said to himself. "I won't let you hurt my friends!"

Squall looked up at him desperately. He had to help somehow, but there was nothing he could do. He could only watch as Cloud struggled and collapsed onto his knee. He felt someone kneel beside him. He turned round and saw Tifa holding an elixir. He thanked her and drained it. He instantly felt all of his energy return, and he stood up.

"Tifa, walk the others." he ordered.

"But what about Cloud!" she said frantically.

Squall looked at Cloud struggling. As Cloud opened his eyes, Squall saw the green flash through them. Sephiroth was starting to over-power him.

"We don't have to. Cloud can't keep this up. Quickly wake the others; we can beat him while he is distracted."

Tifa nodded and started to walk away but was stopped by a barrier. She tried to run through it, or push it away but she couldn't break through. Squall turned round and saw Cloud standing up with his hand out. Sephiroth had obviously taken him over again.

"You won't win that easily."

Squall raised his Gunblade and stood in front of Tifa protectively.

"I guess I'll have to finish you off first." Cloud said before lunging at him.

Squall blocked and pressed his attack forward, away from Tifa. He noticed that Cloud's movements were hesitant. He also noticed that every now and then, Cloud would get back in control, if only for a spilt second. Squall thought that, if he knocked Cloud unconscious, he'd have enough time to find Sephiroth and Ultimecia and free him. But even though Cloud was regaining himself, Squall still found himself quickly going on the defensive.

Squall's body was filled with anger and the adrenaline rush was an added bonus. He could unleash it stronger limit, but the result could be worse than he wanted. He had killed monsters twice the size of Cloud with the limit and he was scared in case he hurt Cloud too badly. But he didn't have a choice. He had to protect the others.

Squall's attacks became more and more lethal, aiming for Cloud's chest and stomach. Soon, he was attack so quickly; Cloud was barely able to dodge his Gunblade. Finally, one hit home. It struck Cloud on his arm and he staggered. This is what Squall needed. He rapidly slashed over and over, each time drawing blood. Cloud wasn't able to block any of them; Squall never gave him the chance. Every second, he felt his energy drop considerably. Squall slashed him one last time on his chest and he collapsed.

Squall breathed a sigh of relief when Cloud fell to the floor. He steadied himself, panting heavily. He had used up a lot of energy with his Lionheart limit. He felt sweat pouring down his face. He looked at Cloud, who just lay still. A small pool of blood formed beneath him and His Ultima Weapon lay next to him.

Squall was about to turn and tell Tifa it was safe when he noticed Cloud's hand move.

Slowly, he pushed himself off the floor slightly. Squall stepped back in horror. How could anyone survive that attack, let alone still be able to get up. Cloud's bangs fell in front of his eyes. All Squall could see of his face was his mouth. He heard him panting heavily and grunting as he stood up, picking his Ultima Weapon up too. Blood was running down his arms, with over a dozen cuts on each arm. His clothes were stained crimson and were shredded, parts almost totally ripped off.

Cloud looked at Squall, who once again stepped back. This time he felt like running. There were cuts all over Cloud's face, and blood mixed with his sweat. He looked totally livid.

Before Squall could react, Cloud ran forward and slashed him. It cut deep into his skin and Squall yelled out in pain. But more cuts followed, each one cutting deeper than the last. Some, blood stained the floor, Cloud's blade and Squall's clothes. Cloud attacked again and again, not stopping until Squall collapsed to the floor. The pain was excruciating, and Squall couldn't move. He started to feel light headed, and he started to find it difficult to breath.

A weak Cloud towered over Squall, looking down at his fragile figure.

"Time to finish you off! For good!" he growled, raising his hand. A huge ball of fire started to appear, but Squall didn't care. There was nothing he could do. He was finished, Sephiroth had won.

But Cloud was suddenly hit by a blast of green fog from behind Squall. He was knocked off his feet and landed at least ten feet from where he had been. He was stunned but he slowly got back up, now severely injured.

Squall raised his head to look behind him. He saw Tifa with her hands out stretched and a furious look on her face. He noticed a green materia, equipped in her armour.

"I've had enough of this Sephiroth. Leave Cloud and Squall alone." she yelled. Cloud stood up, also furious.

"So that's why he left his 'Ultima' materia with you. So you could use it against me." he said. He quickly focused on his materia as she ran forward to Squall and cast Cure3 on him. It didn't heal him totally, only enough for him to get back on his feet. He got up only to be knocked off his feet by a lightning spell. The second spell struck Tifa. Cloud had tried to stop it, but he only managed to weaken it. Tifa fell to the floor and looked up in fear as she saw Cloud step in front of her.

He raised his hand and aimed at Tifa. Another fireball appeared at his palm. He charged it and was about to fire until…

Squall knew of only one way to stop him.

"Cloud, don't! She's PREGNANT!" he shouted.

Shock filled Cloud's body and in that spilt second, he regained control. Tifa watched as his eyes returned to normal. Just as the spell was about to fire, he swung round and shot it towards one of the beams at the roof. The beam cracked, and it was about to snap in half. Cloud threw his sword away and grabbed his head. He wanted to stay in control long enough. Dust fell from the roof as it was seconds away from falling.

"Squall!" Cloud yelled, his double voice now gone. "Get Tifa away from here!"

Squall nodded and ran up to Tifa. He helped her up and pulled her away from Cloud. That was when the roof fell. It caused the ground to shake as it hit the floor, right where Cloud was.

Squall dashed to his friends and covered his mouth as the smoke cleared. Both he and Tifa looked at the wreck in shock. Cloud was in there.

"Cloud!" Tifa yelled and began to rush forward, but Squall stopped her.

"No, we need to wake the others first. If we get Cloud out of there and Sephiroth still has control, we'll be history."

"Okay." she replied shakily and pulled out 4 Phoenix Downs. They group awoke and gasped at the sight.

"Oh my goodness!" Rinoa whispered as she hugged Squall.

"Wha' the hell happened?" Cid asked. "An' where's Spike?"

"He's under the debris. C'mon we gotta help him!" Squall told them and they rushed to it.

They pulled away bricks, wood, slabs but still couldn't find Cloud. While Cid was rummaging through the dirt, he felt something cut his hand.

"Ow ya bugger!" he shouted.

"What is it?" Zell asked.

Cid saw the blade of Cloud's sword sticking out of the dirt.

"Ah've got Spike's sword here. Tha' bugger sure is sharp!"

"He's got to be nearby, keep looking." Squall told them.

Tifa lifted up a piece of wood and saw a Cloud's hand on the floor. She gasped and squeezed his hand. She gasped again when she felt him squeeze her hand back.

"Squall, I've found him!" she shouted excitedly. She lifted up a slab and threw it to the side. She saw Cloud lying on the floor, breathing heavily. She stroked his head and whispered.

"Cloud? Are you okay?"

"Tifa?" he moaned back. That was all she needed. She almost cried because she was so happy to see him again.

"Cloud you're alright!" Squall said running up to him.

"Squall…" he swallowed hard as he tried to speak, "I'm so sorry. I tried to stop him but…"

"Listen, forget it." Squall interrupted, "We need to get you out of here. Tifa cure him."

"No! Don't!" Cloud warned.

"Why? We need to get you out of here, Cloud." Tifa told him. Cloud shook his head as best he could.

"No, there's a pole…it's went straight through my leg…if you heal me…I won't be able to get it out."

"He's got a point." Zell said.

"Squall…go find Sephiroth and Ultimecia. They're in this building. Stop them…before they take over me again."

"Alright, Cloud! Tifa could you stay here with Cloud." she nodded, "Everyone else come with me."

Everyone nodded and ran off with him leaving Cloud and Tifa alone.

"I'm so happy to see you, Cloud." Tifa told him, squeezing his hand.

"I'm happy to see you too. Tifa, I…I'm so sorry if I hurt you."

"No! It wasn't you…it was Sephiroth. You would never hurt me."

"Thanks, Teef." he whispered. Soon after, he let the darkness take him, falling unconscious.

"Cloud?" she asked, trying to wake him. She felt for his pulse, it was there. She decided to let him rest. It had been a long day.

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A/N: Whew…that took ages to write. Even if it is quite small. Hope you enjoyed it because I'm not too sure. Anyway…shout-out time.

Shout-outs – 

serindarkwolf19 – I'm happy you like this but it's nearly finished. I hope you'll read the sequel though.

Ric Leonhart – Thanks for the idea. It might just do that with Bahamut ZERO. Thanks again.

Fr33k S+Yl3 23 – Ta for the praise Roxie, but I ain't that good. :D

Mako-Magic – I'm not usually good at writing fight scenes…this one was particularly difficult.


	28. Final Defeat

A/N: Here's chapter 28 guys. Thanks for all your reviews. I have received more for ch27 than I have for any other chapter. I've also had several people eager to read the sequel. Thanks everyone. And sorry for the delay.

Summary – Cloud battles with both Sephiroth and Squall. Squall unleashes his Lionheart limit and tries to hurt Cloud enough to knock him unconscious. But the plan backfires, and Cloud manages to stay awake. Squall is hit with Cloud's ultimate limit, OmniSlash. Cloud goes to finish Squall off, but Tifa steps in. When Tifa is in a danger, Squall can think of only one way to stop Cloud. He shouts that Tifa is pregnant and Cloud diverts his spell. He gets caught under debris and slips out of consciousness. Tifa stays with him while the others go to find Sephiroth and Ultimecia.

Chapter 28 – Final Defeat

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Squall rushed up the stairs. He had climbed several floors already but he hadn't checked in any of them. He followed his instincts. And his instincts told him they were near the top.

The others were right behind him. They were all nervous. They doubted that the six of them could take on two of the strongest beings that had ever existed. The two were obviously stronger together.

They all reached the top floor several minutes later. Squall drew out hid Gunblade and opened the door. It was a control room. Squall could see the panels for the intercom and elevator. Squall walked up to a control panel at the opposite end of the room and examined it. Zell walked up next to him and looked at it too.

"What do you think this is used for, Zell?" Squall asked him.

"Maybe for the lab experiments." he suggested. They both noticed a large button behind a glass case. The case was open. "What does this do?" he asked, about to press it.

"Zell, don't!"

He pressed down the button, but nothing happened. Zell sighed in relief. Next second, the wall beside them started to glow lightly. The glow disappeared and the wall had vanished. The hole led to a large room, similar to the one where Squall had fought Cloud. Squall knew what was waiting in there. The others all readied their weapons and magic, before moving through.

'Time to end this.' Squall thought.

* * * * *

Tifa continued to lift the debris off of Cloud, who was still unconscious. He wouldn't feel the pain if he was knocked out, so Tifa worked quickly. She soon had lots of cuts and scrapes on her hands, which were bleeding badly. But she didn't stop.

She soon came to a small pole. She pulled it but heard Cloud yell in pain. This was the one in his leg. She kneeled down beside him, seeing he was awake.

"Cloud, I'm so sorry." she apologised.

Cloud shook his head. "It's alright Teef. It just stings a bit."

Tifa stroked his head and felt tears come into her eyes. Why did this have to happen to him? Why can't they just live in peace for once? Why do they have to fight the same foes over and over?

Tifa cleared the rest of the debris on his body, except for his leg. She was then able to lie beside him. He raised his arm and she cuddled up next to him. She held him tight, promising herself to never let him go away again.

* * * * *

The group of five entered the large room, on the alert. They couldn't see anyone.

"What the hell!?" Barret shouted. "We came up here for nothin'?"

"C'mon let's go, there's no one here." Zell said and they began to walk out. Except Squall.

Rinoa turned to him and saw him standing still, a look of shock on his face.

"Squall? What is it?" she asked shakily.

The others looked at him too.

"Guys! Get out of here!" Squall told them.

"What's up?" Cid asked.

"I can't move." Squall explained. Everyone looked frightened. Suddenly, Squall was lifted off his feet and was sent flying, head first into a wall. He fell to the floor, dazed.

"Squall!" Rinoa shouted running over to him. She kneeled next to him and helped him stand up. They both heard laughing and looked up at the roof.

Sephiroth and Ultimecia were floating up there. Both of them had smirks on their faces.

"Glad to see you joined us. Unlike that weakling downstairs." he added with an evil laugh. Both his voice and his laugh sent chills down Squall's spine. 

"You're the weakling Sephiroth!" he shouted, "You have to use other people to fight your battles for you. You hide behind them like a coward!"

Sephiroth glared at Squall. If looks could kill, Squall would be ten feet under. He and Ultimecia lowered them selves to the floor and readied for a battle.

"We'll see who the coward is." He drew his Masumane and charged at Squall. Squall stepped back in surprise. The sword was bigger than him. He raised his Gunblade and blocked it. Cid came up next to him and tried to puncture him with his spear, but he was stopped by a barrier. Barret's bullets wee also stopped by the barrier, as was Rinoa magic. No one could hurt him. Squall noticed this and leapt back, away from Sephiroth. They all gathered together. Sephiroth yawned.

"This is getting boring. Let's make things more interesting." he hissed and turned to Ultimecia. They both nodded and raised there hands. Spells formed at their palms and were almost ready to attack.

Squall tried to protect the others. "Rinoa! Cast Shell!" he shouted, but he wasn't quick enough.

Their spells were cast simultaneously. The Apocalypse washed over everyone, knocking them to the floor and drained most of their energy. The second one followed.

Squall lay on the floor, weak, but still conscious. He was confused. Only one spell had hit him, but the others…Squall stood up and looked over at his friends. All of them lay still, as if they were frozen. Squall ran up to Rinoa and kneeled down. Her whole body was frozen, as was her expression. She looked as if she was in pain, the same as everyone else.

Squall growled and looked at Sephiroth.

"What have you done to them!?" he shouted.

"Relax boy. I have simply cast stop on them. Now you have no one to help you." he said laughing.

"I don't need help to defeat you."

Sephiroth let out a loud laugh that made Squall shiver. "You keep fooling yourself boy. That last attack wiped out almost all of your energy. You can barely stay awake, let alone fight."

He was right. Squall fought hard to stay conscious. His arms felt heavy and his head was spinning. He stumbled slightly as he stood up.

'I have to stay awake. I have to beat them. To protect my friends.'

With that, he was filled with determination.

'I can't lose. I won't lose.'

* * * * *

Tifa and Cloud still held each other on the ground. Cloud eyes snapped open and he gasped. Tifa looked up in concern.

"What's happened?" she asked. She knew Cloud could sense what was happening with the others.

"Squall is alone in the fight, but he's weak. He won't be able to beat without his friends."

"What can we do?"

They were interrupted by the elevator. Tifa slipped out of Cloud's arm and stood up as the elevator door opened. Tifa gasped and grinned. The rest of AVALANCHE and SeeD, except Selphie and Cait Sith, had come.

They all rushed over. Yuffie hugged Tifa tightly.

"You're okay! I was so worried!" she squealed before letting go and noticing Cloud. "Oh my god, Cloud! Are you alright?" she asked, kneeling in front of him.

Cloud chuckled softly. "I've been better, trust me." He then remembered the fight. "Guys, you need to help Squall. The others have had 'Stop' cast on them so he's alone. He can't fight Sephiroth and Ultimecia on his own."

"Okay, we'll go help. C'mon guys."

Vincent stood still. "I'll stay here and get Cloud out of this wreck." The others nodded and ran off.

"They won't get there in time. I have to help." Cloud said worriedly.

"But what can you do?" Tifa asked.

"There's only one thing I can do."

* * * * *

Squall weakly raise his Gunblade and held it in front of him. Sephiroth laughed evilly. He rushed forward and slashed downwards. Squall blocked and almost dropped his Gunblade. Sephiroth swung to his head but he ducked and countered. But Sephiroth simply caught his blade and yanked it out of his hands, leaving him defenceless.

Sephiroth grabbed Squall throat, lifting him off his feet, while pulled a remote out of his pocket. He pressed a button and a plate in the hole opened. The hole was wide, if anyone fell through the middle, they wouldn't be able to grab the edges. Sephiroth held him above the hole. As he gasped for breathe, he looked down through the gap, and his eyes widened with shock.

It was a pool of Mako.

Squall had heard that Cloud had barely survived Mako poisoning, and that was because he already had some in his body. If he fell in there, he'd be killed for sure.

"Say goodbye." Sephiroth growled. Squall felt his hand loosen slightly but it stopped. Sephiroth looked at his hand in disbelief. He then pulled Squall away from the hole and dropped him. He fell to the ground, clutching his throat, and looking up a Sephiroth in shock. What was he doing?

Sephiroth raised his hands and stared at them, looking terrified. "Impossible!"

Squall watched as Sephiroth shut his and lowered his head. His arms dropped to his sides, he looked like he was asleep. But he soon raised his head and opened his eyes. Squall smirked.

Familiar aqua-marine eyes glowed in his enemy.

Cloud had taken control.

* * * * *

Cloud concentrated the best he could, to keep control of Sephiroth, but his strength was quickly failing. His face was scrunched up from both the pain in his leg, and the strain in his mind. Vincent tugged at the pole, causing Cloud to yell, but he gritted his teeth together to stop himself.

Tifa sat beside him, watching him struggle. She couldn't bare it. She clasped his hand and squeezed it, which he returned.

"Hang in there Cloud." she whispered to him, "You've got to. For our friends."

* * * * *

Ultimecia was furious.

"What are you doing? Kill him! It kan't be that hard."

Sephiroth smirked and turned round. Ultimecia gasped in surprise and stepped back.

"You weren't expecting this twist were you?" Sephiroth said. He now had the same double voice that Cloud had. He turned back to Squall.

"Squall, kill him, quickly. I can't keep this up for much longer."

Squall nodded, grabbed his Gunblade and stood up. He was about to strike when he saw Sephiroth grab his head and shake it. When he looked up, he was back in control.

"Time to finish you off myself." he snarled and lunged.

Squall blocked and countered, striking Sephiroth's arm. Sephiroth's movements were slow, thanks to Cloud. He wasn't able to concentrate. But he managed to block Squall's attack and cut his ribs. Squall yelled out in pain and fell to the floor. Sephiroth towered over him. 

"No one to help you this time," he growled as he lifted the Masumane above his head. Squall shut his eyes and waited for the strike. But Sephiroth was hit by a fire spell, before he had the chance to lower his sword. Squall stood up and looked round. At the entrance stood Quistis, Yuffie, Irvine, Red and Reeve. Squall smiled and ran to them, as they cancelled the 'Stop' spell on the others. They all wearily stood up.

"Looks like we got here just in time." Red said.

Squall smiled and hugged Rinoa as she ran to him. He was relieved that she was okay.

"We need to beat them." Squall said, nodding towards Sephiroth and Ultimecia. They both stood waiting, smiles on their faces.

"Let's finish them, together!" Irvine suggested happily. Squall nodded and let Rinoa go.

Everyone concentrated on their strongest magic. Sephiroth and Ultimecia stepped back in horror. They both knew that they wouldn't survive this onslaught. Everyone finished summoning their magic and was ready to fire.

"Take this!" Squall said angrily, and they fired. Soon the room was filled with several Apocalypse, Flare, Comet, Break and Cloud's Ultima spell, from Squall. Each spell struck their two enemies. The air was filled was their yells and screams as everyone cast their spells over and over. The collecting of magic exploded and smoke filled the room. Everyone held there breath till the smoke cleared. Sephiroth and Ultimecia lay on the floor. They were dead. Once and for all.

The group cheered and hugged each other. heb had done it. They had stopped them. They all headed downstairs to get out of this place.

* * * * *

Tifa sat next to Cloud, who was unconscious, and Vincent was casting Cure on him. He had removed the pole from Cloud's leg and cleaned his wound. They spell wouldn't cure it completely, but it would stop it from bleeding again.

They both swung round when they heard everyone come in. They were all yelling and cheering. They had obviously won. Tifa ran up and hugged Squall, much to his surprise.

"You did it. You stopped him. Thank you so much." she whispered.

"No problem. But I didn't do it alone. Cloud helped too."

Tifa smiled at him and let go. Squall then noticed Cloud still on the ground.

"What's wrong with him?" Squall asked.

"Nothing. He just fell unconscious again after Sephiroth died. He must've been really tired after trying to control him." Tifa said, while holding Cloud's sword. Squall nodded and sighed. He was exhausted, he was glad that everything was fine.

Suddenly, the roof started to fall. The single support beam that was holding the roof up was ready to break.

"C'mon we need to get out of here!" Quistis shouted and everyone started running to the lift.

Squall lifted Cloud and put his arm over his shoulder and started to tak him to the elevator. Cid grabbed Cloud's other arm and helped him. They carried Cloud into the elevator. Squall felt him stir, as he hanged limply off their shoulders.

He moaned as he wearily opened his eyes.

"Don't worry Cloud; we'll get you out of here soon."

"Thank you, Squall." Cloud said quietly.

Squall looked at him but said nothing. He knew that Cloud didn't need and answer.

As the elevator stopped, everyone ran out. The roof was started to fall, as the support beams cracked. They all darted out the entrance as the building finally collapsed.

Everyone covered there mouths as the smoke and dust whipped past them. When it stopped, they stared at the wreckage.

It was over.

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A/N: Finally I finished it. This chapter was very hard to write. Crap, wasn't it. Sorry if it was. Thanks for the reviews everyone. And…did I get Sephy's sword right? I think that's the right name, or is that one of Cloud's swords from the game?

Shout outs – 

Fr33k S+Yl3 23 – I might just do that. Thanks for the idea Roxie. I'll try my best to put it in.

Leon Highwind – He isn't Irish. I just made him talk like a Scotsman. I know cause that's were I'm from.

Brutal2003 – I agree

Ric Leonhart – Sorry the description wasn't very good. I'm not especially good at writing descriptions by it was my best shot. I'll do better next time, promise.

cloudude55 – Ta for pointing that out.

CrystalTyres – Thanks for the offer of pictures. I'll contact you if I would like any.

Jin – Glad you like it.

eveeee90 – Thanks for reviewing both of my fics. And I'm happy you liked both of them.

Mediciner – Thanks though I doubt this is the best FF8 fic ever. Nice compliment though, lol.


	29. A Way Home

A/N: Hey guys. Sorry it took so long to update…I had trouble getting this chapter right. Sorry again if it's a bit dull. FINAL CHAPTER here so I hope you like it. And I'm glad you liked the last chapter, if you did. Well…read on.

NOTE – If you want questions about this fic answered, email me or put them in a review and I'll post up a FAQ (frequently asked questions). Questions about anything related to this fic are welcome, okay? If there's enough I'll post one up.

Summary – Squall fought Sephiroth alone but was in danger. Until Cloud helped, by controlling Sephiroth. The others showed up and they finished Sephiroth and Ultimecia once and for all. They all managed to escape from the building when it started to collapse. It was over.

Chapter 29 – A Way Home

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Cloud stood on the highest hill, watching the sea.

So much had happened. So many things, which could have been prevented. So many things he blamed himself for.

It hadn't been long since he had come back…but it had felt like months. He was happier than he had ever been before. He knew that Sephiroth was finished, and his shadow no longer hung over him. The Mako-mutants had, somehow, all been destroyed when Sephiroth and Ultimecia had been killed. Both Kalm and Costa del Sol had gotten back on their feet. He and Tifa were together, plus they were expecting a child.

And it was all thanks to Squall. The one person, who hated him, had helped him so much. Cloud could only think of one way to repay him.

Get him and his friend's home. But it was going to be difficult. The first problem was figuring out how they had gotten here in the first place.

He looked towards the shore and something in his memory came zooming back into his head.

Their ship had crashed in the sea and sunk. Somewhere out there, it was lying in the ocean. Maybe he could…

Cloud smiled and stood up. He put two finders in his mouth and blew. His whistle was loud and could be heard by the one he was calling. Bahamut flew out of a forest and landed beside him. The Bahamut lowered his head and Cloud stroked it, before climbing onto its back. The Bahamut flapped its huge wings and took off.

They landed next to the shore, and Cloud slipped off. He walked forward until he was in the water. He drew out a materia from his pocket and slotted it into his armour. He then concentrated onto the materia next to it. Soon, his Leviathan patiently waited at his feet. He climbed on and they swam out.

Leviathan continued to swim but stopped a distance out. It turned its head towards Cloud, requesting to dive. Cloud nodded and it dived down. The water was cool and thanks to his materia, he could breathe. At the sea bed, he saw a large red construction. They swam down to it and Cloud surveyed it carefully. It looked like a large red dragon. It had cannons at its mouth and, what looked like, moveable claws.

'So…this is the Ragnarok, huh?' Cloud thought, 'Impressive!'

He looked closer and noticed, on the right hand side of the ship, was a large hole. The metal looked as if it had been melted or scorched off.

'That's obviously where the lightning struck it.'

Cloud let go of his summon and swam to the hole. It was big enough for him to fit through. He carefully slid into it and swam through the corridor. Several rooms were on either side of the hall and an automatic gate was at the end of the hall. Cloud stepped onto the metallic floor. Thanks to his materia, he could walk on the floor like he cloud when he was out of the water. He quickly walked forward and examined the gate. It was slightly ajar. Cloud wondered if he could open it with his sword. He decided to try and poked his Ultima Weapon into the gap. He pulled the sword to the right. The gate slowly pulled apart and eventually opened enough for him to get through.

Inside, was empty. There was another door, and an elevator. The electricity was offline, so Cloud swam up instead. He had reached the bridge. The controls, weapon system and pilot seats were all up here. The large window had been destroyed and one of the chairs had been ripped from the floor. He walked up to the control panel and pulled off the metal covering the wires. He looked inside carefully and saw that one of the wires had snapped in two.

'That was what probably caused Selphie to lose control. It must have taken too much strain from the electricity and broke. Maybe…'

Cloud took out his underwater materia and placed it in between the wires. He was careful to keep hold of it. If he let go, he would drown. He wrapped the two wires around the materia and pulled them together. Holding the two ends, he used 'Bolt3' to charge the electricity. The room suddenly filled with light and the water level started to drop. The water rushed out of the window and none came back in. Soon the room was empty, as was the rest of the ship. The materia stopped the water from getting inside the ship. Cloud then concentrated on his 'Cure3.' The glass then started to repair. The broken wire started to meld together, so Cloud took out the materia and let go. Within seconds, everything was repaired.

The water barrier still surrounded the ship as the flying controls went online. Cloud sat down on the pilot's seat and looked at the controls surrounding him. He used his Sense materia to analyse each one. He finally found the one that allowed the ship to fly and pressed it. The ship jolted to life and Cloud smiled. He brought the control handles down and the ship began to rise. Holding the controls down, he pressed the button the start the engines. The ship began to move forward and fly upwards. Cloud smiled again.

'It worked!'

* * * * *

"Cloud!" Tifa shouted.

She, Squall and Rinoa walked across the plains looking for Cloud. He had been gone for hours.

"Cloud!" Rinoa shouted.

Squall looked around. They could see nothing but hills, cliffs and the sea. There was no one here. Except…

"Hey, what's that?" he asked, noticing a large black figure in the distance. Tifa walked up beside him and squinted to see what it was. She recognised it almost instantly.

"It's Cloud's Bahamut. C'mon, he's near the shore." she yelled running off. The two followed her.

Tifa reached Bahamut first.

"Where's Cloud, Bahamut?" she asked it.

The Bahamut nodded its head towards the sea. Squall was confused. How could he be down there? They then saw Leviathan's head pop out of the water.

"Is Cloud down there, Leviathan?" Rinoa asked it. The summon nodded its head and swam to the shore.

They had gotten a surprise with Leviathan, but nothing prepared them for what happened next.

Squall stepped back, stunned, as he saw the Ragnarok shoot out of the water. Instantly, what felt like, thousands of questions flowed into his head. When the Ragnarok landed softly on the land near them, Squall and Rinoa rushed over. Squall's eyes widened when he saw Cloud step out of the ship. He saw them coming and smiled.

"Not a bad ship you have!" he commented, "At least it was easy to fix with materia."

Rinoa ran up to him, almost tackling him. She hugged him tightly as he stood in shock.

"Thank you so much Cloud!" she said excitedly, "We might be able to get home now!"

"No problem," he said nervously, but felt more comfortable when she finally let go.

She ran inside the ship to look around. It was exactly the same. Squall noticed something else.

"It's totally repaired!" he said, bewildered, "But how?" he asked Cloud.

Cloud walked up to Tifa and put an arm around her waist.

"You can use materia for more than just fighting, you know." he said simply. Squall nodded and turned to look at the Ragnarok again. It was impressive. There wasn't one scratch on it.

He felt excitement surge through his body, but it was soon replaced with disappointment. They had been here for half a year. The place felt like home now, but it wasn't. He still felt the longing to be back at Balamb Garden. That was his home. But beside all that…

He was going to miss this place.

* * * * *

"Wow, that's brilliant!" Selphie squealed. The SeeD's, Cloud and Tifa were all back at the bar. Everyone else had gone back to their homes. Squall had just told them about the Ragnarok. Saying that they were excited would be putting it lightly.

"We can finally go home!" Quistis said happily, as Selphie hugged her.

"After what you guys have done here, you deserve to be able to go back." Cloud said.

Squall looked at him and saw that he meant it. After all that had happened, he had gained a new found respect for Cloud. There was still a bit of rivalry but not the same way as Seifer. They didn't want to practically kill each other. And Cloud had told them all about his past and about his JENOVA cells. Squall knew that it must have been hard for him to tell them, but he respected him more for that.

Then another problem came up.

"Question is…" he started and everyone turned to him, "How did we get here? What actually happened?"

"I think I might know." Cloud said. Everyone looked at him in surprise. He stood up from beside Tifa and walked to a window. He looked outside. He saw the dark, grey clouds heading towards Kalm. Signs of a storm.

"When I was controlled…it wasn't just Sephiroth, it was that women too. Because my will was strong enough to resist Sephiroth's powers, he had to use her powers too. And there were side affects. One was my eyes. They never used to change colour. Another…was that I was able to read their minds. According to Ultimecia, there was a small part of something…what was it?" he started to think hard, "Time…time something. I can't remember but it was something that happened in your time." he told them.

"Time Compression?" Zell asked.

"Yeah…that's it. There was a small area of the planet still affected by it. Apparently, you flew straight through it. Also…it looks as if it only appears during a storm."

There was an uncomfortable silence between them. Irvine looked out side the window where Cloud stood.

"Looks like we could be leaving here very soon."

* * * * *

The storm outside was more like a hurricane than anything. The group of eight practically shoved themselves through the wind to the Ragnarok. Cloud and Squall had left it there earlier.

The SeeD's walked up to their ship and opened it. They had never been so relieved to see it again. Everyone started to board while Rinoa and Squall went over to Cloud and Tifa.

"Bye, Tifa." Rinoa said hugging her. Tears had begun to flow out of her eyes. She and Tifa had become very good friends and Rinoa didn't want to part from her, maybe never to see her again.

"Don't cry Rinoa. I won't forget you." she told her. She hugged her back and they let go. Rinoa turned to Cloud and hugged him too. He felt slightly more comfortable this time.

"Bye Cloud," she said, "Be a good dad, okay."

He laughed, "Don't worry…I'll do my best."

With that Rinoa let him go, waved goodbye and ran onto the Ragnarok. Squall turned to Cloud.

"Cloud…thanks…for everything."

"No…I should be thanking you. You've done more here than we first thought. Thanks."

Squall nodded and Cloud held his hand out. Squall shook it and they smiled.

"I'm gonna kick your ass next time." Cloud said, jokingly, as they let go.

"Yeah…you wish!" Squall laughed and he walked towards the Ragnarok.

"Oh Squall!" Cloud shouted, getting his attention. "Here." He pressed his Ultima materia into Squall's hand.

Squall looked at it in surprise. "Cloud…this is your favourite materia, I can't take it."

Cloud smiled and lifted up another Ultima. Squall stared at it.

"Thanks to you, the materia was mastered. I'll train this up in no time." Cloud said.

"Thanks," Squall said before running into the ship.

As the door shut, he rushed to the bridge. Everyone else was there. The group all turned to their leader and he nodded, understanding what they wanted. Selphie grinned and started the engine. She grabbed the controls and the ship slowly started to rise from the ground. Everyone grinned, and then they heard a familiar sound of engines. They all looked out of the window to see the Sentinel flying a short distance away from them. Everyone, including Cloud and Tifa, were on the deck. The two groups exchanged waves before the Ragnarok headed in the direction Cloud had given them.

Squall looked back and smiled again.

He had a feeling that they would see each other again.

* * * * *

"Commander! There's more paperwork here for you." said Xu's voice over the intercom.

Squall sighed. It had been two weeks since they had returned, and already everything was back to normal.

When they had arrived back, they had told Cid their bizarre story. At first, Cid suggested the lot go to a psychiatrist but he finally began to believe them. Everyone had been going frantic over the loss over their finest SeeD's, but they settled down eventually.

Squall stood up and walked to his window. He would always remember AVALANCHE. He smiled as he lifted the Ultima materia.

'Yeah…' Squall thought, 'I'm definitely gonna kick his ass…next time.'

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Well, that's it. Bye-bye fic. I'd like to thank all of my reviewers and all your positive opinions. I enjoyed writing this and I'm glad you all liked it. The sequel will be coming, but it may take a while. I still need to get the story right. I'll hope that you pass the time by reading my others fic if you want. And I'll be very pleased if you read the next fic in the 'Final Fantasy United' series, 'The GF's Peril.' See ya.

Shout-outs

cloudude55 – I'm happy you're looking forward to the next one. Makes me happy, :D Thanks for all your reviews cause you've read this, almost, from the beginning.

Jessica Holmes – You, Jess, are one of my best reviewers. You review every two chapters and they're always positive. I'm very happy that you've liked all my CloTi scenes, I'm not usually good with mushy stuff, but…oh well. Ta for all your reviews and good luck with your fic. CloTi 4eva.

Ric Leonhart – You're one of newer reviewers so I can't say much. But thanks and I'll try and do the description of Squall's limit better next time. Cheers. Oh and I'll try and put Bahamut Zero in the next fic, okay.

bobtheevilchocobo – I'm pleased you liked this. I know that there are three; I just couldn't find anywhere to put in Bahamut Zero. I'll try to next time.

And everyone else…**THANK YOU!!!!!!**


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